


Behave

by buckybarfs



Series: Words [3]
Category: Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Awesome Pepper Potts, Bucky Barnes Feels, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, M/M, Minor Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Minor Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, Mutant OC, Mutant Powers, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, OFC has a child, OFC has a dark past, Ofc tends to be a bitch, POV Third Person Omniscient, Pansexual Character, Parent Tony Stark, Past Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Phil Coulson Has the Patience of a Saint, Platonic Soulmates, Protective Natasha Romanov, Protective Steve Rogers, Romantic Soulmates, Self-Defense, Self-Worth Issues, Shameless Smut, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Snarky Jarvis, Soul Bond, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Strong Language, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, not civil war compliant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-21
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-08-23 18:23:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 16
Words: 26,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8338009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buckybarfs/pseuds/buckybarfs
Summary: “Behave.” A word Tony Stark heard far too often considering it’s meaning.“Why don’t you make me?” A phrase Cosette Avalon had been dreading hearing.





	1. Seasons Don't Fear The Reaper

**Author's Note:**

> I'm attempting to get back into the swing of writing so please don't judge me too harshly.
> 
> I don't own any of the Avengers or any other Marvel characters.

_“Behave.” A word Tony Stark heard far too often considering it’s meaning._

_“Why don’t you make me?” A phrase Cosette Avalon had been dreading hearing._

  


Cosette vividly remembered the day she got her mark. She had been taking a shower when she noticed the black smear appear on her thigh. She sat in the shower for hours until the smear had finally turned to words. _"Why don't you make me?"_ At the age of 14 she was old enough to know what it meant and she quickly found herself disgusted, her soulmate was clearly a complete pig. Who would say that as their first words to someone? Who would ever think that was appropriate?

 

She decided to hide it from everyone her mother and best friends included. Until four months after its first appearance when her mother caught a peak of said mark when they took a trip to a local beach and demanded Cosette show her. That day she broke down in tears and explained to her mom why she had hidden it for so long. After telling her mom the full story she found herself embarrassed for keeping it a secret.

 

“Darling, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. It just means your soulmate, whoever they are, has a sense of humor.” Her mother had said with a chuckle.

 

That night Cosette found herself in a three-way call with her best friends babbling on about her soulmark and what it could mean. The three girls spent all night brainstorming what she could have said to get that reaction out of her soulmate.

 

“Perhaps you told him to shut up!” Maya had offered.

“Or maybe it’s a girl and you told her to calm down.” Blair had countered.

 

Every night since then she had fallen asleep with her soulmate on her mind.

* * *

 

In Cosette's opinion New York City didn’t have a proper summer since she had been raised in the desert she figured herself an expert on the subject. The one week in August when New York City managed to get up to 94 degrees before falling back to 80 degrees for the remainder of the month didn’t count as summer. Period.

So here she found herself in central park on a Mid July morning dressed for fall weather. She and her four year old daughter, Lilith, wore nearly matching outfits both in leggings with long coats and matching combat boots. Her daughter had apparently inherited the “always cold" gene.

The two held hands as they made their way to a nautical themed playground nearby in the park. As they drew closer Lilith tugged her mother’s hand and asked in a tiny voice if she could go play. With a gentle smile Cosette told her to go ahead and watched with a pang in her heart as her daughter tore off running for the playground. Lilith immediately ran towards the staircase that would lead her to the slide and without taking her eyes off her daughter Cosette sat down on a nearby bench and let out a sigh.  She had grown up so fast Cosette couldn’t help but feel cheated.

For a moment Cosette let her eyes wander to assess any possible threats in the area. Her eyes landed upon two men who appeared to have just finished their run. Quickly she decided they likely weren’t threats so she turned her attention back to her daughter. A smile found its way onto her face as her daughter ran towards her holding a leaf.

“Mama! Look what I found!” The small girl exclaimed as she proudly held the large leaf out to her mother.

Cosette gasped and widened her eyes dramatically as the leaf was presented to her. “Why that must be the biggest leaf there has ever been!” She said with an exaggerated southern drawl as she leaned forward and pretended to examine the leaf. To her left she heard a laugh that caused her to glance over. Her dark green eyes met bright blue ones that crinkled with laughter. Immediately she quirked an eyebrow as if asking the stranger what could possibly be so funny causing the blonde haired blue eyed mans cheeks to redden as he realized he had been caught watching their moment. The darker man beside him laughed and clapped his friend on the back commenting on how smooth he was.

Her daughters eyes followed her mothers gaze to see what was causing her mother to make an expression she only saw when Cosette was heavily annoyed with someone. After staring at the men for a minute the little girl leaned over to her mom and whispered “Mama can I give the leaf to them?”

For a moment the young mothers eyes widened in surprise before a slow smile spread across her face. The men didn’t seem threatening in fact they had some of the kindest eyes she had ever seen and she found herself curious about them. She took a minute to formulate a plan in case something happened before turning back to her daughter and saying “Well let’s go!”

The child ran over to the men clutching her leaf as her mother strode behind her. With a toothy smile she held her hand with the leaf out to the men and said “Here! The leaf made me happy so I wanted to share the happiness.” Cosette found herself feeling incredibly proud of how well spoken and kind her daughter was.

The two men blinked in surprise before wide smiles spread across both their faces. “Well thank you! This is a wonderful gift.” Said the blonde man.

“I’m Sam Wilson and this is Steve Rogers.” Said the other man who had identified himself as Sam Wilson. “What might your name be?”

The small girl looked back to her mother to make sure she had permission and upon receiving a nod she turned back to the men and stuck her hand out. “I’m Lilith Avalon.” She said proudly as the men took turns shaking her small hand.

“Pleased to meet you!” Steve Rogers said with a genuine smile.

Cosette then took her turn to step forward with her hand out. “Cosette Avalon." She said as she shook their hands and gave them both small smiles.

Lilith held the leaf out once more and smiled as Sam accepted it.

The two men continued to thank the small girl for the leaf until Cosette checked the time and sighed. “We have to get going. It was nice meeting you though.” She said to the men with another small smile. Sam and Steve said their goodbyes to her and Lilith and wished them a good rest of their day before the small family walked off.

 

“That was nice.” Steve said with a small smile as he watched the two walk away hand in hand. Sam nodded in response with a similar smile on his face.

The two rested on the park bench for another fifteen minutes before deciding they should make their way back to the tower they called home.


	2. But why?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just getting to know Cosette Marie Avalon and Lilith Bell Avalon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I don't have a test reader so my apologies if I made any mistakes. Also, don't worry the story will start picking up soon.

“What's with the leaf?” Was the first thing out of Bucky’s mouth as Sam and Steve walked in the door of their shared apartment. 

Sam frowned and turned away from Bucky as he protectively clutched and shielded the leaf from view. “It was a _gift_ ,” he said frowning in Bucky’s direction.

“From one of your pigeon friends?” Bucky scoffed.

Steve crossed his arms and gave Bucky a disapproving look before saying, “A little girl at the park gave it to us because it made her happy. Don't be a jerk, Buck.” 

With a dramatic roll of his eyes, Bucky made his way out the door, mumbling something about going to the gym. 

The room was quiet for a moment until Sam mumbled: “We should frame it.”

“That’s a great idea; Do we have any spare frames?”

Sam thought for a moment before shrugging and moving towards the storage closet in the entry hall. He browsed through the closet for a few minutes until he found a frame that just so happened to be the perfect dimensions to house their monstrous leaf. A victorious escaped his lips as he turned to Steve and help up the frame. After wrangling the leaf into the frame he turned to Steve and asked, “Where do we put it?”

“Bookshelf?” 

“That works.”

* * *

Lilith was sat on Cosette's lap babbling away as the two rode the subway back towards their apartment.  Cosette was currently zoned out trying to figure out why the two men from the park had seemed familiar, she felt like she should know who they were. The little girl played with her brunette curls as she turned to the old woman sitting beside her and her mother. 

“Hi!” She said with a large smile to the old woman. After receiving a greeting in return, Lilith starting babbling to the woman about a book she was reading.

“How old are you?” The older woman asked, confusion clear in her voice.

Lilith puffed her chest out and proudly told the woman she was four. 

“You’re already reading a book about space?” 

Her curls bounced as she nodded and went to pull the book out of the small backpack she had been carrying.  _ “There’s No Place Like Space: All About Our Solar System”  _ It was a Dr. Seuss book designed to teach small children about space. 

Cosette turned her attention to her daughter’s conversation with a fond smile. She remembered how hurt the small girl had been when she realized the book didn’t mention Thor once.

* * *

 

_ “But where’s Thor?” The small girl asked, her voice thick with emotion. _

_ Cosette looked into her daughter’s wide brown eyes that were filled with tears and sighed. “He’s just not in that book sweetheart.” _

_ “But why?” The always asking questions phase her daughter was going through was extremely exhausting. “You said he’s from space so he should be in my book!” _

_ “I’ll get you a book on Thor, okay? I promise.” _

* * *

 

The little girl had now changed the topic of the conversation to the Avengers. “Who’s your favorite?” She asked the older woman before tacking on, “Mine is Thor.”

With a gentle smile, the woman pretended to deliberate before answering “I think mine would be Captain America.”

“ _ Why? _ ” 

Ah, the questions phase was refreshing.

 

Upon arriving home Cosette decided to make grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup; she plopped Lilith on the counter and turned some music on before proceeding to make their meal. Lilith sat on the counter reading her book and wiggling along to the music as her mom sang along. 

_ “When the nurse came in with a little pink blanket, all those big dreams changed. Now he’s wrapped around her finger, she’s the center of his whole world. And his heart belongs to that sweet little beautiful, wonderful-”  _

“-Perfect all-American girl!” Lilith shouted.

Cosette laughed and went to scoop up her daughter, nuzzling her face in her mess of curls. “That’s you, baby. You’re my sweet little beautiful, wonderful, perfect all-American girl.” She let out a happy sigh and pressed a kiss to the small girl’s forehead before placing her on the floor, “Go sit at the table, dinner will be ready in a minute.”

After the two ate dinner, they settled into the living room to watch the television for a bit. As she flicked through news channels she spotted a pair of incredibly familiar blue eyes. She blinked at the TV for a long minute, watching the old footage. 

“Mamas, let's watch Hercules.” 

That snapped Cosette out of her reverie. With a gentle smile, she changed the TV over to Netflix and settled down to watch her and her daughters favorite movie. 

By the time the credits rolled Cosette found her eyes were heavy with sleep and that Lilith had already fallen asleep. She gently picked the small girl up and carried her into her room. Once she detached the small girl from her she gently set her down in her bed and smoothed her curls back so she could press a kiss to her forehead. 

“Love you, Cozy.” The little curl murmured.

“Love you too, baby.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave feedback. <3


	3. God Help The Outcasts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosette gets a call that she doesn't want to answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I listened to God Help The Outcasts from The Hunchback of Notre Dame on repeat while I wrote this. Also, there is SO MUCH DIOLAUGE in this!

Cosette sat at her kitchen table and sipped her coffee, enjoying the quiet of the morning. It wasn’t often that New York was quiet so she always took the time to enjoy the moments when it was. On her table sat a book of paint and fabric swatches that she was absently flicking through, anticipating her next project. Cosette Avalon was a household name if you could afford it. She was one of the most requested interior designers in the country, her loyal customers often requesting she work on their vacation homes in other countries. Though, she was currently taking a break until next year so she would be able to spend more time with her daughter. 

Who, speaking of could be heard waking in her room down the hall a smile spread across the young mother's face as she stood and walked into the kitchen to make a plate of breakfast for the young girl. The little girl yawned and wiped the sleep from her eyes as she climbed into a chair. 

“Morning mama.” 

“Morning baby! I made you chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries and bananas.”

A squeal of excitement left the small girl's lips as the breakfast was placed before her. 

“Can I have juice too?” 

“What baby wants baby gets.” Cosette declared with a grin as she went to pour a glass of orange juice.

As Cosette sat the glass of orange juice down her phone began to ring she checked the caller ID and upon seeing the name of her contractor friend, Ted, on the screen she grumbled something under her breath about “fuckers not knowing the definition of time off” as she went to answer it. “What?” She huffed out.

“I have a job for you.”

“I’m on vacation.”

“You’ll wanna hear this one.”

“Alright. You have exactly two minutes before I hang up and block your number.”

“You remember all that weird shit with the Avengers that went down in Switzerland or some shit?”

“ _ Sokov _ _ia_.”

“Close enough. Apparently, those robot things destroyed part of Avengers Tower. I’m working on fixing up the walls and shit but, I heard they were looking for a designer so I dropped your name.” 

“No thanks.”

“They pay extremely well.”

“Don’t care.”

“Expect a call by tomorrow.”

“Don’t they have people on retainer for this? Why are they hiring outside?” 

“Apparently they weren’t completely happy with some of the previous work. Boss Lady’s heard about you and once I mentioned you she was determined to have ya. Plus isn’t your daughter a huge Avengers fan? Maybe she could meet them.”

Cosette bit her lip and turned to look at her daughter who was still happily inhaling pancakes.  _ Maybe  _ she could do this for her daughter.

“Boss lady?” She inquired. 

“Yeah, Ms. Potts. She’s in charge of the reconstruction. I’ll tell ya I’ll never get sick of being asked to install bulletproof walls.”

“Sounds like a safe environment to bring my child into.”

“Just answer the phone when she calls.”

“Fine.”

“Knew I could convince you.”

“I haven’t accepted the job.”

“Yet.”

“Only so Lil can maybe meet Thor.” She grumbled before hanging up on the laughing man.

 

* * *

 

 

When her phone rang for the second time that day as she was cleaning the living room and singing Disney soundtracks. 

_ “I ask for nothing, I can get by, but I know so many less lucky than I.”  _ She sang as she dusted the television. 

“Mama! Phone!” She heard Lilith yell from the other room. 

With a sigh, Cosette turned her music off and reluctantly answered the phone. 

“Hello?”

“Miss Avalon?” 

“Yes, this is she. Ms. Potts, I assume?”

“Yes, that’s correct. I suppose you’ve been told about our renovations?”

Cosette chuckled, “I’ve been told the bare minimum. Bulletproof walls, crazy robots, the basics.”

“That’s really all I care to say over the phone.” There was some hesitation before she continued, “I’d prefer to meet in person so I can show you exactly what you’d be getting into.”

She took a minute to mull this over but apparently she was silent for too long because Ms. Potts added: “We’d pay you very generously.”

“With all due respect Ms. Potts it’s not the money I care for. I’ve been taking time off so I am able to spend more time with my daughter.”

“Oh!” Ms. Potts exclaimed. There was jumbled mumbling in the background before she followed up with “You’re more than welcome to bring your daughter if you’d like. I’d really love for you to do this but I understand your daughter comes first. If you choose to take this on or even meet with me perhaps I could arrange for her to meet with some of the Avengers?” 

Cosette suppressed a groan, Ted had told her of course he had. 

“Is it an active construction zone?” As soon as the words left her mouth she could hear the woman on the other end trying to suppress her excitement.

“It’s completely safe!” 

“When would you like to meet?”

“Can you be over by three?”

She checked the clock to see that it was only 1:30. “Certainly.”

“I’ll meet you both in the lobby at three! Thank you.” Ms. Potts said before hanging up.

 

* * *

 

  
  


Cosette stood in the living room with her face pressed into her hands and let out a loud groan. Of course, she would get roped into something like this. “Hey, baby?” She called as she walked towards her daughter's room.

The small coffee haired girl looked at her suspiciously before answering “What?”

“We’re gonna go on an adventure, get dressed.” She said before walking out of the room.

Lilith took a minute to furrow her brow and look down at her pajamas before standing up and waddling over to her closet. 

Fifteen minutes later Cosette walked back into her daughter's room in a leather jacket, black jeans, a dark blue blouse and knee-high leather boots. She let out a laugh as she realized her daughter was wearing a nearly identical outfit with a leather jacket, black leggings, a blue galaxy print shirt, and mini combat boots. 

“Is your backpack packed?” She asked the small girl.

For a moment the little girl pondered the question before opening her red Lightning McQueen backpack and looking inside. The contents included band-aids, goldfish crackers, a small water bottle, her book on space and a book her grandmother had given her on Norse Mythology. “Packed.”

“Well let’s go!” The young mother said as she slung her purse over her shoulder and ushered the little girl out the door.

Cosette had decided they would walk so they could hit up a favorite donut shop of theirs. 

“Mama! Are we going to Extra?” The little girl asked, excitement lacing her voice.

Lilith meant Extraterrestrial Goods a small donut shop that had the best doughnuts in the world. 

Cosette nodded and squeezed the girls hand as they walked through the busy streets. She didn’t worry about losing her daughter in the crowd for two reasons; the small stuffed octopus that hung on the girl's backpack had a tracking device in it and so did the silver Mjolnir bracelet the little girl wore. 

Once they stepped into the shop Lilith ran forward to analyze the doughnuts, her mouth agape as she took in the galaxy pattern glazes that adorned some of them. 

“Hey, Lily!” Shouted the blonde teenager that worked at the shop as she spotted the brown-eyed little girl. 

“Sarah!” She crowed, her eyes never leaving the donuts. 

“What can I get ya, Angel-Cakes?”

“The chocolate galaxy glaze with alien sprinkles!”

“What about you, Cozy?”

Cosette frowned and chewed on her lip for a second as she deliberated between two different donuts. “Just the galaxy glaze maple bar.” 

After receiving their donuts, the two girls went and sat at a futuristic looking table by the window to eat their spoils. 

“What else are we doing today?” Lilith asked her mother.

“Well, I may take on a new project.” Cosette watched as the little girl frowned and quickly added, “But, I need your help with it.” 

The child mulled this over for a minute before nodding in acceptance. “Where are we going?”

“That’s a surprise.”

 

Once they had finished  their donuts they made their way to the tower. Upon realizing where they were Lilith let out a squeal. “Really, Cozy?” She asked as she bounced up and down with excitement.

Cosette simply smiled as she picked the young girl up and walked through the door into the lobby. It was 2:55.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love feedback.♡


	4. Are You An Alien?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little known to Cosette this project isn't nearly as much work as a certain someone will prove to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I'm sorry I disappeared for a while! I was on vacation but I am back now!  
> I apologize for how short this is. This is...really short.... So this is definitely a filler but that's only because I plan on introducing Tony soon!

By the time the two had signed in and gotten guest badges, it was 2:59. They were instructed to stand in a back hallway near the elevators that led to the top floors. As three o'clock hit, one of the elevator doors opened to reveal a very put together Pepper Potts.  
  
“You're right on time!” She exclaimed happily as she stepped towards the two. “I'm Pepper Potts, the one you were on the floor with earlier.”  
  
“Cosette Avalon pleased,” Cosette said with a smile as she shook hands with the woman. “This is my daughter.” She gestured to the little girl, who was standing by her side.  
  
“I'm Lilith!” The four-year-old said with a large grin as she stuck her small hand out towards Pepper.  
  
The CEO blinked at the girl's hand for a minute before leaning down to shake it. “I'm happy to meet you.” She murmured softly at the little girl. After shaking the small girl's hand Pepper straightened and smoothed her skirt before saying “If you'll just follow me to the elevator we can head up!”  
  
On the ride to the upper floors of the tower Pepper filled Cosette in on exactly how much work she would be getting herself into should she choose to work with them. “We had to do a near complete tear down of all the recreational rooms and several labs-” Pepper had started to say.  
  
“Labs?” Cosette interrupted sharply concern etching her features.  
  
The redheaded CEO sighed and ran a hand through her hair before saying “You're aware of what happened in Sokovia?” Cosette nodded at her to continue. “Well, it originated here. Ultron destroyed part of the tower while attempting to-” She hesitated and glanced down at Lilith to see if the small girl was listening before continuing. “-eliminate The Avengers.”  
The young mother chewed her lip as she went over this new information. This wasn't exactly the kind of place she wanted to bring her daughter around, but at the same time wasn't being with The Avengers one of the safest places to be? Plus with how much she would be making from this project she and Lilith could always go on a trip together, the little girl seemed incredibly interested in visiting the Kennedy Space Center.  
  
The comfortable silence that had fallen over the elevator was interrupted by JARVIS informing them that they had arrived at their floor. The group exited the elevator to a completely empty floor that was clearly in the process of being rebuilt. The smell of plaster and paint lingered in the room just enough to worry Cosette. Though, she knew there was most likely nothing in the room that could potentially be harmful to her daughter she still considered making the small girl wear a dust mask. Her train of thought was interrupted by Pepper asking the duo to follow her.  
  
They were shown around the large floor and told what each area was supposed to be. Just the one floor was several thousand square feet and it wasn't even the only floor she would have to work on.  
  
“So? Thoughts?” Pepper asked as the group stopped back by the elevator they had arrived in.  
  
Cosette glanced to Lilith and quirked a brow silently asking for the small girl's opinion. Lilith tapped her chin thoughtfully, as she had often seen smart adults do on television before answering. “It's a lotta space. We could do a lot of cool things with it.”  
  
The young redheaded mother's heart soared at her daughter's approval. “Well, you heard my business partner. It's a large space with great potential. It's certainly an ambitious project, but I think we can do it.”

“Wonderful! If you’ll just follow me to my office we can get a contract written up.” Pepper beamed as she clapped her hands together in excitement. 

Unknown to Cosette refurbishing the building would prove to be a small piece of work compared to what would come.

* * *

“I am simply saying I don't understand the Midgardian tradition of slaughtering this ‘Turkey' creature.” Thor said with a frown.

  
Sam and Steve both threw up their hands and groaned. “It's a holiday where you eat and give thanks.” Sam said sounding exhausted.   
  
“Is that not every meal?”   
  
“No, this one is special.” Sam stated.   
  
“Why?”   
  
“Just because.”   
  
“Why?”   
  
“You sound like a four-year-old.”   
  
Steve snickered at Sam's accusation which had just further puzzled Thor. Secretly the man was relieved that he wasn't the only one that was somewhat slow when it came to this world. Sure, Steve knew the meaning of Thanksgiving when Thor didn't, but both men still marveled at the technology of the modern world.   
  
Halfway through Sam reading the Thanksgiving Wikipedia page to a still very confused Thor the group was interrupted by JARVIS.   
  
“Ms. Potts requests that the three of you head down to her office.”   
  
The three men shared equally confused looks before exiting the apartment to head down to Ms. Potts office.   


* * *

 

“One condition!” Lilith interrupted as her mother moved to sign the contract.   
  
The two older women looked at her curiously as they waited for her to continue.   
  
“I want to meet The Avengers.”   
  
Pepper chuckled before instructing JARVIS to summon all The Avengers that were in the building, which happened to be only Thor, Sam, and Steve.   
  
“Who's your favorite?” Pepper asked as she leaned over to the desk to converse better with the small girl while her mother signed the contract.   
  
“Thor.”   
  
“Any particular reason?”   
  
“He's from space.”   
  
“Well, that's as good a reason as any.”   
  
“I like space because it's so big. It's a mystery.” Babbled the excited little girl.   
  
Pepper smiled as the little girl spoke about her ideas on space and talked about wanting to be an astronaut when she grew up.   
  
As the little girl continued to enthuse about space and Cosette handed the signed papers over to Pepper there was a knock on the door. The mother and daughter turned around to face the door, curious to see who would enter.   
  
“Come in!” Pepper shouted.   
  
In stepped Captain America, Thor, and Falcon. Cosette's eyes widened into saucers as she took in the three men now standing before them, two of which looked very familiar.   
  
“Oh my god!” Squealed Lilith as she shot to her feet.   
  
Cosette slowly stood up to stand in front of the men.   
  
“Hey, you're the little girl from the park a few days ago!” Sam exclaimed.   
  
“So you're a fan of-” Steve started to say before stopping as the little girl threw herself at Thor. “Thor. You're a fan of Thor.” He mumbled sheepishly as he moved to scratch the back of his neck.   
  
Thor let out a loud laugh as he bent down to pick up the little girl. “What might your name be, little one?” He asked gently.   
  
“I'm Lilith!”   
  
“An honor to meet you, Lilith!” He bellowed.   
  
“What's it like being an Alien?”   
  
Steve and Sam let out loud laughs as Thor stared dumbfounded at the curly haired child.   
  
  


Cosette let out an embarrassed cough and quickly said in her best mom voice “Lilith you can't just ask people what it's like to be an alien.” Then under her breath, she mumbled “Or can you? I don't know the protocol on this.” Which caused Steve and Sam to start laughing again.   
  
“It's quite alright, I was just surprised,” Thor said dismissively before answering the girl's question which led to even more questions.   
  
Steve focused his attention on Cosette before asking “So what brings you here?”   
  
The young mother straightened before answering “I'm going to be working here for the next few months.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave some feedback or just comments or anything really, I love it.


	5. I Learned That From The Pizza Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three four-year-olds decide to go shopping without an adult.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so sorry I haven't updated! I typically write when I am lonely as a way to escape to a different world and lately I just haven't had time. I'm sorry this is so short but we're so close to introducing Tony! Have a little filler fluff with Lilith, her new best friend Thor, and Mama Cosette.

"Behave." Cosette groaned as her daughter continued to kick and scream at the idea of getting out of bed at nine in the morning on a Saturday. "Please." She tacked on as the small girl continued carrying on high.

She had to go pick out flooring today for the Avengers Tower project which, she had been pretty excited about until her four-year-old started screaming. "If you don't behave I'm going to call Ally and see if she can babysit you then, you won't be able to go floor shopping with Thor and me." Although she had neglected to invite Thor it technically wasn't a lie, the God had gotten used to being dragged along on shopping expeditions to appease the small child and in Cosette's words 'To Add some Asgardian flair' to the rebuild. Which they both knew was bullshit but Thor didn't mind as he found the small girl to be fascinating, often telling her mother that she had an 'old soul.'

* * *

One would imagine taking a four-year-old and a God on a floor shopping expedition wouldn't be that difficult. One would be wrong.

Lilith, of course, was wondering _why_ all of the floors couldn't be hand painted blue and orange tiles and Thor was wondering _why_ everything couldn't be marble.

"Behave. Please. Both of you." The tired mother said as she rubbed her temples. "Please stop touching everything."

The blonde haired man and the small girl sheepishly removed their hands from the bamboo flooring they had been feeling up. It was like shopping with two four-year-olds.

Cosette sighed and returned to flicking through the slides of wood slabs that she had been examining. Ms. Potts had expressed her want to keep everything light and airy in the rooms which drastically lowered Cosette's choices.

She cringed as she heard Thor boom in excitement about the floors he had found, sometimes the God's loudness made her head hurt still, she made her way over to him to see what he had found.

The man stood proudly beside a sparkling white marble flooring with rivers of gold in it.

"You know how I feel about marble flooring. I hate tiled marble. It belongs in bathrooms and kitchens and that is it." She grumbled though she had to admit the flooring was beautiful. Maybe it could go in some of the bathrooms.

"We haven't picked out bathroom flooring yet." He said smugly.

Cosette narrowed her eyes at the man and threw her hands up and let out an overdramatic groan. "I thought your brother was the mind reader."

She watched the man wait anxiously as she deliberated and finally gave in. "Maybe we can put it in Starks bathroom. Make it real grand. The gold touches will give homage to his ego."

Thor grinned gleefully as he celebrated his victory by writing down on their order sheet with how much Cosette told him they would need.

"Actually ... That would be a really nice backsplash and countertop in the kitchen too."

The God wrote down the revised amounts on the sheet as Cosette wandered off in a different direction in search of flooring. Lilith and Thor proceeded to wander around looking at different flooring and making comments about the different slabs.

"This looks like it belongs in a haunted house," Lilith said as she pointed to a stack of orangey oak flooring that, despite being brand new looked incredibly old and dusty.

"This looks like it was _burned_!" Thor shouted as he pointed some tiger wood flooring.

Out of nowhere, the two heard a loud shriek and the sound of someone running.

" _Look at the European Oak_!" Cosette exclaimed as she flew past them towards a stack of light gray oak flooring. "Picture that in the living room with bright white walls, big windows, light furniture and subtle gold pops." She practically moaned.

"My Lady the times I have heard a woman that excited about something usually do not happen in public," Thor said cheekily.

A loud **_thwap!_** was heard as Thor received a smack and a pointed look in the direction of the four -year-old accompanying them.

"She hit me!" Shouted the God accusingly.

"No, I didn't!" The mother denied.

"Behave," Lilith said with a disapproving look at the adults with her.

Maybe it was more like three four-year-olds shopping together.

* * *

 

The trio made their way out of the elevator to the temporary living space set up on one of the floors that had not been destroyed. It had originally been a floor for SHIELD agents to reside on, but since the upstate facility had been built it had been empty.

Thor and Lilith sat on the floor in front of one of the large couches in the communal living room as Cosette left the room to phone for pizza.

Once she returned to the room Lilith was lying on the floor watching some show JARVIS had put on for her and Thor was lounging on the couch looking exhausted. She flopped down onto the couch beside Thor and told him their order had been placed.

After a few minutes of silence Cosette spoke up, but only loud enough for the two of them to hear. "So where is everybody else?"

Before answering, Thor rolled so his head was on her lap so she could play with his hair. "Most everyone is at the compound upstate."

"Why are you here? Why aren't you there or home?"

He hesitated and Cosette could read the apprehension on his face. "I have gone home quite a bit, but there isn't much for me to do there at the moment. I choose here over the compound because I enjoy being around you and Lilith more so than everybody else." He stated, then in a small voice he said: "It feels like _family_."

Cosette felt her motherly instincts kick in and her heartbreak at his last admission. "We're happy to have you in our family," She said softly as she continued smoothing back his golden locks.

Before the touching moment could continue, the three heard the sound of the elevator could be heard.

"Must be the pizza guy." Murmured Cosette.

"Actually Miss it isn't your pizza delivery man." JARVIS interrupted.

"Then who is it?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry (not sorry) that I teased the word behave so much in this chapter!


	6. Too Much Too Soon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers are up to something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quite a bit is happening in this chapter and it's also a bit longer than all of the others. Here ya go.  
> Also I plan on turning this into a soulmate series! I am currently working on a Sam one and a Steve one to go along with this one.

“Oh hey, Pepper.” Cosette said as Pepper stepped through the elevator doors.

“Hello everyone!”

“What are you doing back Lady Potts?” Thor asked curiously.

Pepper sighed and ran her hands through her hair before answering, “Well … Tony is coming to visit soon. I’m not exactly sure when but he wants to stop by and see the progress.”

There was silence as everyone mulled over Peppers announcement. If they were being honest they had very little progress to be shown. They had picked nearly everything out and had begun ordering the materials needed to finish the project but not much had been visibly done. Cosette found herself feeling worried that Mr. Stark wouldn’t be incredibly impressed and would instead fire her. While she didn’t need the money and would still get paid for her time she didn’t want to leave. She had become close with Pepper and Thor and became friendly with some of the other avengers. Her daughter would be crushed if she couldn’t visit anymore. 

However, Cosette decided to push all those worries away because she could tell just how stressed Pepper was over all of this. She could do this, she would do this.

“Well, that’s wonderful!” She said while clapping her hands together and putting on a fake smile. “The walls will all be painted tomorrow and the flooring with be installed Tuesday!”

Pepper let out a sigh of relief at Cosette’s enthusiasm, although it was fake. She was incredibly relieved that Cosette had taken on the project in the first place and found herself becoming more and more impressed with the woman every day.

“I’m glad that won’t be a problem. Tony is very excited to see what you have come up with.”

“That’s a lie isn’t it?” Cosette asked as she raised a brow.

“Yeah.”

“I can handle him.”

“Good.”

* * *

 

A loud groan could be heard as Cosette inspected the flooring that was delivered. “Are you kidding me?” The wood in front of her was definitely not the wood she had ordered. In front of her sat dark cherry wood when she had ordered a light gray oak. This would set her back at least three days and since Mr. Stark was coming any day now and without actual warning she couldn’t have another setback. The living room walls had been painted a yellow-toned white instead of the blue-toned white she had originally picked out which had already set her back two days. However, the company had heavily apologized and had offered to paint the rest of the project for free.

Not to mention Thor had promised to watch Lilith but it was currently 8 in the morning and he still hadn’t shown up. What a way to start off the day.

She took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders before putting on her best disappointed mother face. “Do you realize who I am? Do you realize where you are? You are in  _ Avengers  _ Tower. You are in the home of some of the most powerful people in the world and you have the gall to bring me this?”

“I’m so sorry Miss there must have been a mix-up with the delivery and-”

“You better bring the correct wood to me within the next hour,” Cosette said simply before turning on her heel and leaving the room. She hated using  _ that _ voice but it couldn’t be helped.

The man in charge of the delivery stood still for a minute before blinking heavily and shouting after the retreating woman “I promise you will get the proper materials within the next hour and because of our mix-up the install will be free!”

Cosette turned on her heel and walked towards the elevators where Lilith was curled up on a couch that they had temporarily sat by the elevators. The small girl was napping and cuddling a small stuffed astronaut bear the sight brought happy tears to the mother's eyes. How had she managed to create something so precious?

Her little moment was interrupted by the ding of the elevator doors signaling that Thor had finally arrived. “I am sorry, Lady Cozy. I have brought you coffee as an apology.”

A small smile made its way onto the mother's face, somehow it always worked out in her favor.

* * *

 

Thor was currently babysitting Lilith as Cosette didn’t want the small girl being around the installation process for her own safety. However, JARVIS had checked with Cosette and she had affirmed it was okay for them to come upstairs and visit as it was everyone’s lunch break.

By the time the duo had made it upstairs Cosette had already spread Chinese food all over the folding table set up in the middle of the future dining room. The three sat on the floor around the table and proceeded to eat their respective orders. 

Despite ordering their usual amount of food there were three extra containers sitting on the table waiting to be eaten. “Who’s are those?” Lilith asked curiously as she eyed up the extra container of brown rice.

“Those would be mine.” Came a voice seemingly out of nowhere that was followed by a thud. 

“Clint!” Cosette and Lilith both shouted simultaneously.

“How’re some of my favorite girls?”

“We’re good! We haven’t seen you in a few weeks.” Said the mother with a slightly accusing tone in her voice.

“I’ve been relaxing around the compound.” He replied with a shrug.

Cosette analyzed him for a minute and deemed that he was lying, but she decided to figure out why another time. “Well pull up a chair.” She said jokingly with a small smile on her face.

* * *

 

“No, I’m serious! So I’m sitting there in the vents watching my target when he starts talking to himself in the mirror, telling himself how he’s such a ‘neat guy’ and how he’s ‘the man.’ He even calls himself a love machine.” Clint chokes out in between laughing fits.

Cosette held her side and gasped for breath as she started laughing so hard she cried. “How do you take someone in after that? ‘Hello sir, yes we need to take you in for questioning. Well, sir, we’re questioning all the love machines in the area.’” She said with a serious voice before returning to hysterically laughing.

Thor and Lilith had excused themselves to go watch Glitter Force after finishing their meal so it was just Cozy and Clint curled up under the table laughing during the remainder of the lunch break. 

“Excuse me, Miss. Avalon? Are you alright we thought we heard crying in here.” Asked one of the crew members as he timidly poked his head in the room.

Clint snorted as Cosette bumped her head while trying to crawl out from under the table to stand. 

“We’re fine everything’s fine.” She assured the man as she stood and smoothed her skirt and ran a hand through her red curls. “Thank you though.”

* * *

 

**_Earlier_ **

 

“This isn’t right,” Steve said with a frown as he looked at the screen on the other side of the table.

“With all due respect, Captain, we have no other choice.” Maria tried to reason.

“I agree with Cap. I’m not comfortable with this.” Sam stated as he crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat.

“You were both comfortable with this when we made you run surveillance.” Fury said, annoyance ringing in his voice.

“You told us there was a threat. I see no threats.”  Cap said sternly.

“I am in agreement with the others this is not right,” Thor added.

“You don’t have a choice.” Fury said before turning on his heel and leaving the room.

The team of Avengers glared at his retreating form. 

“Guys, it’s our job.” Clint tried to reason.

“I don’t care. This isn’t right.” Cap said stubbornly.

“I must go. I am late to watch young Lady Lilith.” Thor said before getting up and leaving the room with one last glance at the large screen.

Steve and Sam got up and avoided looking at the wide green eyes on the screen as they exited the room. Clint groaned loudly before slamming his head into the table. After a minute of wallowing he picked himself up and turned off the screen but not before apologizing to the redhead on the screen.

* * *

 

“Behave.” Cosette groaned offhandedly as she heard a loud thunk which she guessed was Clint messing with materials again.

“Why don’t you make me?” Came a sly voice which Cosette would swear was an audible equivalent of the feeling you get when you first slide into a hot tub on a cool night.

She froze. Panic coursing through her veins as she felt it, the warm pulsating feeling emanating from those words that had been scrawled across her thigh since she was 14. The mother slowly turned around to make eye contact with the man who had said it.

Tony Stark stood before her looking just as alarmed as she did. He could feel the pulsation of the word that had marked his belt line since his 27th birthday. 

“Tony, please stop.” Pepper sighed.

Cosette blinked several times, willing her eyes to look away from the man she had waited her whole life to meet. After another minute of silence, she finally tore her eyes away from him to look at Pepper. “Miss Potts if you don’t mind I’m afraid my work hours are over. I have to go home now.” She said curtly before turning and walking to the elevator that JARVIS was opening for her. 

“What was that about?” Pepper mumbled under her breath as she watched the woman retreat into the elevator. She casually sipped at the cup of tea she was holding as she continued to stare at the spot the woman had just stood in.

“Might have had something to do with the fact that we’re soulmates,” Tony said casually, causing Pepper to spit out the tea that she had been drinking.

“She’s going to kill me for spitting on the new floors.” Whispered the redheaded CEO.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know y'all have been waiting for this forever! Well it's finally here. Tell me what you think about Tony!


	7. Arizona

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor and Lilith go on a shopping trip and it is revealed that the Avengers are hiding a big secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was inspired by a comment Tokh left on the previous chapter! (Shoutout to you!) I specifically made this chapter a little more serious but I promise there will be a cute avengers nerf gun war in the future!
> 
> This is definitely a filler but I wanted to give a slightly different point of view and a look into what the Avengers are up to when nobody else is around! However we're also getting a little closer to uncovering some of the secrets Cosette has!
> 
> If you caught the friends reference in the last chapter good for you!

  
As the elevator made its way to the floor that Thor and Lilith were hanging out on Cosette couldn't shake the feeling of dread in her stomach. She could feel that Tony felt slightly rejected though he was currently doing everything to push it down.

  
Too lost in her thoughts she didn't notice that the elevator had stopped and that the doors had opened until she heard a shrill yell and felt joy surround her.

  
“Mama!” Lilith crowed at the sight of her mother standing in the elevator.

  
“Hi sweetheart. Are you ready to go home?” She asked softly as the little girl turned to Thor.

  
The God stood there holding a little pink bomber jacket, a stuffed astronaut doll, and her daughters favorite Lightning McQueen backpack. The mother watched with a small as the large man delicately helped the little girl into the jacket before helping her into her backpack. He got down on one knee and held out the astronaut doll that he had purchased when they had ventured out to Toys r Us.  
“Now you will take care of him right, little one?” He asked, a serious look on his face.

  
“I will!” Lilith said happily as he handed her the doll.

  
The two hugged for a long moment before Lilith stepped into the elevator beside her mom. “Bye bye Thor!” The child said with a goofy smile.

  
“Bye! Thank you for watching her!” Cosette shouted as the elevator doors closed.

* * *

  
**_Earlier_ **

“Thor?” Lilith asked in a small voice.

  
The blonde man warily looked over from his spot on the couch to see what the small girl wanted. He couldn't read her face as she was nuzzled so deeply into the gray blanket she had wrapped herself in. “Yes?” He asked apprehensively.

  
“Can we go on an adventure today?"

  
“Of course!”

  
“Where?”

  
Thor hesitated before answering, “I am not sure.”

  
_“Might I suggest Toys R Us.”_ Jarvis's voice floated from above them.

  
“That is a wonderful idea!” Thor cheered as he jumped off of the couch. “Come little one, put your shoes and coat on. We are going on an adventure!”

  
_“I'll summon a driver for you.”_ Jarvis said , slight amusement ringing in his voice.

  
An hour later the duo found themselves wandering through a massive Toys R Us.

  
“What would you like to look at?” Thor asked as he looked down at the little girl that was clutching his hand.

  
“Let's look at the boys toys. They always have better stuff.” Lilith stated with determination.

  
“Very well!”

  
The two found their way to the boys section where Thor told Lilith she could get whatever she wanted. The little girl excitedly picked out a Thor action figure which made the god smile a little tearfully.

  
“Thor, can you pick me up so I can see the top shelf?” She asked softly as she craned her neck to look up at the God.

  
“Of course!”

  
Thor delicately set the little girl on his shoulders before continuing to stroll through the aisles.

  
“NERF GUNS.” She shrieked as they came upon an aisle with nothing but the colorful toy guns.

  
Thor jolted in shock at the loud noise that had come from the small child before realizing what she had said. “Does your mother allow you to play with toy weapons?”

  
When Cosette had first asked him to start babysitting he had nervously asked JARVIS to pull up parenting articles and advice on how to care for little ones. One thing he had read about for hours was the debate on what would be considered appropriate Toys for children, lots of parents seemed to oppose nerf guns; saying that they encouraged violence while others said they were just Toys. He wasn't sure where Cosette stood and was afraid of stepping on the woman's toes.

  
“Yes! Well I think. She always says she's from _Arizona_ ,” Thor had to resist chuckling at the little girls pronunciation of the word, “and that guns are a part of life and there's pictures of daddy holding guns. She likes to tell me the story of daddy's gun tattoo." The little girl babbled on.

  
Thor froze for a minute, this was the first mention of a father and the first mention of _Arizona_. He had never considered that Cosette had already met her soulmate and that Lilith could be the product of that. However, she had referred to him the past tense. Perhaps he had passed.

  
“Well, if she says it's alright.”

  
With that the little girl started instructing the employee that had followed them with a cart on what guns to pick up. She picked out a gun for herself, her mother, Thor, Sam, Pepper, and Steve. For Clint she picked out the nerf bow and arrow set.

  
The two wandered around for another hour, picking out more little toys before the came across the bike and ride on toy car section.

  
“I have one of these at home!” She crowed, pointing at a black two seater jeep toy.

  
“You do?” Thor asked curiously. Trying to wrap his head around why they would have one of those in their apartment.

  
“Yeah! Back in _Arizona_!”  
There it was again, _Arizona_.

  
Thor decided she needed to have a little car here as well so he picked out the red Porsche style car, instructing the employee to have it delivered with the rest of the toys.

  
As they were preparing to leave and check out the two came across some large rubber balls with handles.

  
“What are these?” Thor asked with a scoff.

  
“I'll show you!” Lilith exclaimed as she squirmed telling Thor she wanted to be set down.

  
After being set down the little girl ran towards a smaller ball and plopped down on it. She held the handle and quickly bounced towards Thor. “See!” She squealed excitedly as she bounced around.

  
“We’ll take them.” He stated to the employee who was appalled at how much they were spending and was wondering why he didn't work on commission. __

* * *

By the time the two had stopped for food and arrived back at the tower the goodies had been delivered. It was when they sat on the floor surrounded by legos that JARVIS informed them that Cosette was on her way down to pick up Lilith.

* * *

 

“Do we have any new information?” Natasha asked, looking around the table at everyone.

  
There was a chorus of low murmurs, all saying no. However she stopped to stare at Thor, the God wasn't good at lying. “Thor.”

  
“Lilith has a father.” He mumbled, ashamed to give up his friends secret.

  
“Well of course she does.” Natasha said with an eye roll, so much for information.

  
“No, a real father.” Thor said stubbornly.

  
“I always assumed she had used a sperm donor.” Clint mused, tapping his chin thoughtfully.

  
“So she has a soul mate?” Steve asked.

  
“I think he is dead.” Thor said lowly, keeping his eyes downcast. “Lilith only referred to him in the past tense. She also mentioned _Arizona_.”

  
“So she has a dead soul mate?” Natasha asked curiously. “Has anyone even seen her soulmark?”

"What about this _Arizona_ thing?” Clint asked, speaking to nobody in particular.

  
Everyone quieted their musings when Tony loudly cleared his throat.

  
“She has a soulmate. A living one.” He stated.

  
The group looked at him curiously, wondering what he knew that they didn't.

  
“Me.” He said with a shrug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case any of you are interested I have added a Sam story and a Steve story to this series!
> 
> As always please leave lots of feedback as it keeps me inspired!


	8. Happy Birthday!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part one of Cosettes birthday celebration!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder if y'all have started noticing that things are always a little different when Cozy is around.

“Your soulmate is on SHIELDs watchlist.” Natasha said, annoyance ringing in her voice as she stared Stark down.

  
“She’s not dangerous.” Thor stated.

  
“I agree. She seems harmless.” Tony said as he leaned back in his seat.

  
“That doesn’t mean she is.” Clint mumbled under his breath.

  
“She’s not dangerous.” Tony argued.

  
“You know this how? You’ve spoken all of five words to her and you can assess her threat level?” Natasha argued as she flattened her hands on the table in order to keep herself grounded.

  
“I’m a good judge of character.” Replied the man with a shrug.

  
A chorus of chuckles erupted from everyone in the room. Tony was many things but a good judge of character was not one of them.

* * *

  
Cosette sat on her couch holding a glass of wine and laughing as her daughter and bestfriend stood in front of her. Blair had flown over to New York to surprise her long term friend for her birthday.

  
The little girl and black haired woman were currently doing an odd dance in the middle of the living room.

  
“Mom look I’m two-stepping!” The little girl crowed as she continued her dancing.

  
“Oh, yes you are.” The mom replied with a laugh as she took a sip of her wine.

  
“Now let’s teach you how to pick up.” Blair said as she started to aggressively punch at the floor.

  
At the sight of her daughter and bestfriend “picking up” she snorted mid sip of wine, the wine going up her nose and subsequently all over her carpet as she spluttered and coughed.

  
“Mama, are you okay?” The little girl asked, alarm in her voice as she rushed to her mother’s side.

  
“I’m fine, mommy wanted an excuse for new carpet anyways.” She said with a nonchalant wave of her hand before she stood up to put her wine glass on the kitchen table. She returned to the living room with a serious expression on her face. “If there is one thing you need to know how to do, it is the aggressive finger point.”

  
“Ah, yes. The elusive aggressive finger point.” Blair said with a solemn nod.

  
“Teach me.” Lilith said seriously.

  
“Alright, I know just the song.” Her mother replied.

  
Blair squealed excitedly as her friend put on Die Like Your Brothers by The Plot in You.

  
“First, you must do the ‘I’m pretending I’m going to go into the pit but I never will’ strut.” Cosette said as she began to pace back and forth with her hands clasped in front of her. “Then when the time is right you do the aggressive finger point.”

  
 _“Die like your brothers and your father if it’s so good!_ ” The two women started shouting as they got up into each others faces and began to angrily point.

  
“ _Die like your brothers and your father if it’s so good!_ ” The child shouted angrily as she began poking at her mother and aunt.

  
“Perfect.” Blair said with a serious nod.

  
“Push pit!” The little girl shouted as she charged at the two grown women.

* * *

 

“What’s going on?” Natasha asked in her phone as she paced in her room at the tower.

  
“Nothing.” Clint said with a sigh. “They’re just playing.”

  
“Who’s her friend?”

  
“Her name is Blair.”

  
“I’ll look her up.”

  
The spy hung up his phone and returned to listening and watching the squealing that was going on in Cosette’s apartment. He wondered when exactly Natasha had placed the bugs in the woman’s apartment but decided against questioning it.

  
Not even five minutes later Natasha called him back.  
“I found something. I’m calling a meeting.”

* * *

 

“Why are we back here so soon?” Steve asked in annoyance.

  
“I found something.” Natasha stated simply as she opened the laptop that had been sitting in front of her.

  
“What?” Tony asked in annoyance. He was really getting sick of his teams obsession with his soul mate.

  
“Well Clint informed me of her friend, Blair, so I did some digging.”

  
“And?” Tony was really getting annoyed.

  
“I found Lilith’s dad.” She replied as she turned the screen around to show the group. On the screen was a picture of a marine. “I’d like you to meet Corporal Scott Matthews.”

* * *

 

“Thor? Hello? Lil and I are here!” Cosette called as she wandered around the living area of the residential floor. She turned the corner into the kitchen and froze.

  
“I thought I could watch her today.”

  
“Mr. Stark with all due respect I'm not entirely sure how qualified you are to watch a child.” She murmured while avidly avoiding eye contact with the man.

  
“What makes Thor qualified?” Tony asked before shoveling another spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

  
“He's never been in a magazine article about sleeping with an entire calendar.” She said as she crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, raising her eyes to meet his.

  
“Well to be fair that happened once and it was years ago.” Tony said as he sat his bowl aside and slipped off the counter.

  
Cosette's only reply was a raised eyebrow.

  
“Okay, you got me. Maybe twice.” He said as he stepped closer.

  
Silence.

  
“Alright three times. But I've changed.” A step closer.

  
“You don't even know her name.”

  
“Lil or something right?” Tony said with a shrug as he took another step towards the woman now standing directly in front of her.

  
“You're not watching my daughter.” Cosette said before turning on her heel and moving to exit the room. On her failed escape attempt she ran straight into Thor and bounced backwards, almost landing on the floor. Luckily Tony had caught her.

  
When their arms brushed there was a jolt of electricity between them and Tony suddenly felt very, very embarrassed. His cheeks grew hot and he quickly righted the woman before stepping away from her.

  
Thor’s cheeks had also grown pink as he watched the event unfold. “Happy birthday, Lady Cozy!” He shouted in an attempt to change the atmosphere.

  
“Oh so it's your birthday?” Tony asked, still trying to fight the flush that rose to his face.

  
“I have to get to work. If you'll excuse me.” Cosette said softly as she attempted to exit the kitchen.

  
“You shouldn't have to work on your birthday.” Tony said with a frown.

  
“Well my boss is a real tyrant.” She said wryly before exiting the room.

* * *

 

“Teach me how to babysit.” Tony ordered Thor.

  
“Why?” Thor asked suspiciously.

  
“I want to learn. Cosette is my soulmate and that means one day that kid is gonna to be my kid. I need to learn these things.” The billionaire said with a shrug.

  
Thor opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by a tug on his pants. The god squatted down to the child's level, waiting for her to speak.

  
“Can we make a cake? It's my mommas birthday.” The little girl asked softly as she shyly played with her hair.

  
“Of course little one! We shall make the grandest cake this land has ever seen!” Thor shouted as he picked the child up causing Lilith to squeal happily as she was lifted from the ground.

  
“Why can't we just order one? I know some great bakers.” Tony asked, confusion in his tone.

  
“That is not the point.” The blonde man replied with a disapproving look.

  
The dark haired man rolled his eyes, “Then what is the point?”

  
“It has to be special.” Lilith said as she crossed her arms and frowned at Tony.

  
“Right, what's your name again?” He asked, cocking his head as he narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

  
“Lilith.” The child replied indignantly.

  
“Alright, Lilith.” He said the child's name sarcastically. “We’re going to make the best damn cake your mother has ever seen. JARVIS pull up some instructions on how to bake a cake.”

* * *

 

“What's going on in here? Did robots attack again?”

  
The god, playboy, and child's heads all snapped up to see Cosette standing in the doorway, a smirk on her face. Behind her stood a dark haired woman who looked absolutely shocked.

  
“Happy birthday?” Thor said with a sheepish look on his face.

  
“We tried to make you a cake.” Tony explained.

  
“We had a cake fight.” Lilith admitted with a lopsided grin.

  
“Right, well I came down here to see if you wanted to go to lunch but I don't exactly think you're presentable enough.” The mother said while attempting not to laugh.

  
Lilith immediately started brushing flour off of herself in an attempt to make herself presentable, Thor tried to shake the flour out of his hair and Tony hastily tried to wipe egg and sugar out of his goatee.

  
“I'll order pizza.” Cosette said before turning on her heel to step into the living room.

  
“Aunty Blair!” Lilith shouted as she jumped from the counter and ran up to her aunt.

  
“Hello my little devil!” The woman said as she squatted down to fluff the child's hair.

  
Next thing the woman knew the child had screamed “Push pit” and knocked her off balance causing her to topple over and fall on her ass.

  
“Watch it kid I'm not afraid to roundhouse kick a four year old.” The woman said with a playful smile as she reached out and grabbed the little girl.

  
“Please, no!” Lilith shouted as her aunt began to tickle her.

  
The sound of children usually was one that annoyed Tony, but the sound of Lilith giggling and screaming actually warmed his heart. He clutched his chest and gasped at the sudden warm feeling that blossomed inside of him.

  
Cosette rounded the corner with a warm, affectionate smile on her face. “Pizza is on its way.” She said as she smiled down at the two people wrestling on the floor.

Tony stared at the woman, his eyes huge. She seemed to radiate the same warmth that he felt in his chest. Although he was incredibly curious and confused he decided to chalk it up to having too much to drink last night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is part one of Cozys birthday! The next chapter will also include some birthday shenanigans! As always please leave lots of feedback!


	9. Dream Girls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosette and Tony go to dinner and the group thinks they've figured out her secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Originally I planned on making Cosette's birthday a huge deal with a giant celebration but then I figured that this story is still new and none of them really know her that well. So, no huge birthday celebration.

“Just pizza? It's your birthday! We should do something special let’s go out.” Tony said as he regained his composure.

“You didn't even know it was my birthday.” Cosette said accusingly. “Just pizza is fine.”

“Well, to be fair you refuse to speak to me and avoid me at all costs.” The billionaire replied as he stepped towards the woman and attempted to grab her hand.

“Pizza.” She reiterated.

“Fine, pizza for lunch. But we’re going out to dinner.”

“No, no dinner.” The red headed woman said as she waved her hands anxiously, as if she could bat his suggestions away.

“I already made reservations.” Tony pouted.

“Who’s going to watch Lilith?” Cosette asked in a desperate attempt to get out of dinner.

“I’d be happy to.” Blair spoke up from the background.

“I'm happy to help as well.” Thor said with a cheeky smile.

Cosette opened her mouth to protest but quickly realized she had no argument. “Fine.” She conceded.

“Yes.” Tony said as he jokingly pumped his fist.  
The mother’s only response was a groan.

* * *

 

Tony hasn't just made reservations, he had rented out nearly an entire restaurant. The half of the restaurant in the front had other people in it but the other half of the restaurant was roped off. The two sat in a back booth, tucked completely out of view.

“You look absolutely stunning.” Tony said as he took another moment to admire the woman in front of him.

She wore a simple dark green silk dress that popped against her pale, freckled skin and complimented her red locks, which were curled to perfection. Even though she would never admit it she had put effort into looking nice for the date, after all Tony was her soulmate and she would spend the rest of her life with him.

“You already said that. Once when you picked me up and again in the car.” Cosette said with a smirk as she leaned back into the booth and crossed her legs. Although she wouldn't admit it, she had been sneaking appreciative glances at Tony in his simple black tux and bow tie.

“A woman as beautiful as you deserves all the compliments a man can give.” Tony said nonchalantly as he flagged down a nervous waiter who had been standing in the corner for ten minutes waiting to be summoned. “We’ll have your finest bottle of champagne.”

“He’ll have the finest bottle of champagne. I'll have a glass of your _finest_ ,” She said the word mockingly, “Cabernet Sauvignon.” She sent a gentle smile to the waiter before going back to staring at Tony.

“Is that all I can get for you?” The young man asked nervously.

“For now, what's your name?” Cosette asked softly as she popped open her menu.

“Jeremy.”

“Thank you, Jeremy. The alcohol is all we need for now. But _please_ , keep it coming.” She said with a wink at the young man before he scurried off.

“I wouldn't have taken you for a red drinker.” Tony said as he leaned across the table to continue staring at the woman before him.

“Does that work on all the ladies?” Cosette asked without even bothering to look up from the menu.

“Does what?”

“Ordering for them. Asking for the finest bottle of champagne.” The green eyed woman replied as she closed her menu to analyze the dark haired man.

Tony shifted uncomfortably under her gaze, the look in her eye was critical but playful. “Usually.” He said with a casual shrug.

Instead of a reply Cosette simply hummed and returned to looking at the menu.

“Tell me about yourself.” Tony blurted out.

“Excuse me?”

“I want to get to know you. You're my soulmate.” He shrugged again, a minor blush creeping up his cheeks.

“Like you don't already know my life story.” She scoffed.

“I don't.”

“You didn't look me up?” Cosette asked as she cautiously raised her eyes to meet his.

“I haven't.”

Cosette stared blankly at him for a minute before starting to speak. “What do you want to know?”

  
“Everything.”

* * *

  
Cosette laughed as swallowed another sip of wine, her hand flying to her mouth to ensure she didn't spit the drink all over the table.

“You really peed in the suit?” She asked softly, her hand still covering her mouth as giggles continued to pour out of her mouth.

“To be fair I was incredibly drunk. Anyways, what about you? You really performed a one woman production of _Dream Girls_?”

“It wasn't really a production! I was drunk and helping my friend out while she was working at a theatre. We were listening to the musicals soundtrack and I started singing and dancing on stage and acting everything out and the entire musicals cast and crew sat in the crowd and watched.” Cosette explained, her cheeks flooding with embarrassment as she sat her wine glass down and put her hands in her face.

“There has got to be a video of that somewhere and I'm going to find it.” Tony avowed as he pulled out his phone.

“No! You can't!” Cried Cosette as she sat up and leaned over and tried to bat the phone out of Tony’s hand.

“Too late I already found it on YouTube.” Tony said gleefully as he looked down at the woman.

The two suddenly became incredibly aware of how close they had gotten over the course of the night. At the beginning they had been sitting on opposite sides of the curved booth but now they were right beside each other, with a defeated Cosette’s head resting on Tony’s shoulder.

“Hey.” The billionaire said softly as he continued to look down at his soulmate.

“Hmm?” Cosette hummed as she lifted her head up to look at Tony.

There was a moment where the two started to lean in to kiss, but the moment was interrupted by Jeremy asking if they were finished with their meal and if he could take their plates.

* * *

  
“What do you know?” Steve asked as the group all fidgeted in their seats in the conference room.

Clint cleared his throat before speaking, “Well, Nat and I talked to some of her neighbors about the death of Corporal Scott and they all said they all felt awful when he died. Even the ones who didn't know him were torn up about his death. In the month after his death two people committed suicide and three others tried.”

“So, you're blaming her for him being well liked?” Tony said, annoyance ringing in his tone.

“I'm saying I think we found out her secret.” Clint said as he leaned forward to look Tony in the eye.

“What would that be?” Steve asked curiously.

“She's an empath.” Natasha said simply.

“An _empath_?” Thor repeated incredulously.

“Look, it makes sense. Has nobody noticed that everything they feel is ten times stronger with her?” Clint asked, addressing the room.

Everyone remained quiet for a minute, all of them reflecting on their experiences with her. It would explain why everyone had bonded with Lilith so quickly.

Thor thought back to when he first met the child when he felt flaming embarrassment over something wasn't that embarrassing to him and then just felt proud of the child.

Tony, who still sat in his tux from his date earlier, thought back to that afternoon when they had attempted to bake a cake and he had felt the warmth in his chest and to later that night when he felt just as giddy as she did. He couldn't remember a time he had ever felt that giddy.

Steve reflected back onto his first meeting with the family when he felt incredibly proud of the bright and kind child.

Clint thought back to his return to the tower after he had been digging up as much dirt on her as possible, when he had lied about whereabouts and immediately felt ashamed. He couldn't even tell his lie properly he felt so bad.

Although none of them wanted to admit it, it made sense.

“So what now?” Steve murmured to nobody in particular.

His question was met with silence as everybody debated the same thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn you, Jeremy.
> 
> Real talk though, I love the dream girls movie and I listen to the sound track on a regular basis. My friends and family always laugh at me because I sing along in all the different voices. 
> 
> As always I hope you're enjoying this story and if you are please, please leave some feedback!


	10. The Bacon Cheddar Double

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosette is allergic to seafood and The Avengers find themselves close to swimming with the fishes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, this chapter was supposed to end after lunch. But, I'm bitter at the moment so yeah.

“What's that?” Cosette asked as she analyzed a new package that had just been unloaded by a delivery boy.

“The custom tiles you ordered, Miss…Avalon?”

“That's me.” She said with a smile as she took the clipboard he had offered her and signed her name.

“Would you be a _doll_ and help me move these into the bathroom?” Cosette intoned sweetly as she reached out and gently touched the boy's arm.

“I'd be happy to, Miss Avalon.” He replied with a cheeky smile as he bent down to lift the crate up.

“Wonderful,” Cosette exclaimed as she gleefully clapped her hands together, “Follow me.”

After the box had been set in the almost finished bathroom and the delivery boy had left Cosette pulled out a jug of grout and pushed up her sleeves, this was one project she wanted to do herself.

The walls were tiled with the marble Thor had picked out, the floors with the same tile. There was a dual vanity with large gold bowl sinks, the countertop the same white marble while the cabinets were black with gold knobs which matched the kitchens new appliances. A large black and gold mirror sat above each sink, perfectly clean and gleaming. The toilet was closed off, also black but with gold knobs. While the shower stood proudly, with a sparkling glass door and glass walls. The same white and gold tiles were in the shower, but just about eye level was a thick row of the custom tiles Cosette had been installing. The tiles were glass mosaic red and gold made to mimic that of the walls but instead of white and gold they were red with golden rivers. There was a large jacuzzi tub in the corner with the two walls above it covered in two large mirrors. The bathroom was definitely one fit for a king, and Tony Stark may as well be a king.

“Wow.” Clint said breathlessly as he stood in the middle of the room, a whistle erupting from his mouth. “This is amazing.”

“You think he’ll like it?” She asked as she stepped out of the shower and set her tools down.

“If he doesn't I'll happily take it.”

* * *

“What's wrong? Why are you upset? Do you need your diaper changed?” Tony asked he frantically analyzed a sniffling Lilith that sat before him.

“I'm _four_. I don't wear a diaper.” The little girl said with a pout.

“Then what's wrong?” The billionaire asked, exasperation in his voice.

“Where's Thor?”

“Thor? You're worried about where that dummy is?” Dummy was a word Tony found himself using frequently around the child, too afraid to use any other words and have her mother scold him.

“I want Thor.” The little girl hollered as she angrily crossed her arms and stared the man down.

“Look, he's busy. You're stuck with me.” Tony explained with a shrug.

The child's eyes welled up with tears as she opened her mouth to let out a wail.

“None of that fake crying.” The man ordered as he moved to stand up.

“Fine.” Lilith grumbled as she wiped away the forced tears.

“Now, let's go back to discussing the plan.” Tony said in a serious tone as he unrolled a large white paper. “Everyone is going to be here next week to see the finished result of the upstairs. We’ll attack then.”

* * *

“Hey, let's do lunch.” Tony announced as he rounded the corner of his freshly painted bedroom.

“No!” Cosette shouted as she ran out of the bathroom, slamming the door behind her and blocking Tony from entering. “I mean, yes to lunch. No to going in the bathroom.”

“Right,” The dark haired man said slowly as he rocked on his heels, “Well, I know this great little Sushi place-”

“Lilith is four, she doesn't like sushi and I'm allergic to seafood.” Cosette said as she wrinkled her nose and reached down to pick up her daughter.

“Well, how about Shawarma?”

“Again, a four year old. Let's get burgers, normal burgers. There's a Johnny Rockets not too far from here.”

“Johnny... Rockets?” Tony asked, confusion apparent in his voice as his brow furrowed and his head cocked.

“Trust me.” Cosette said sweetly as she rested her hand on his bicep before walking around him.

“Right. Trust.” Tony mumbled, his head slightly fuzzy as all arguments against this random burger place dissipated.

* * *

“Good, huh?” Cosette asked cheekily as she crumbled up the wrapper of her now demolished Houston burger.

Tony grumbled something incoherently before taking one last bite of his bacon cheddar double.

“Couldn't hear that.” The mother said in a sing song voice as she went to take a sip of her chocolate shake. Smirking at her soulmate from across the table.

“I like their fries.” Lilith said as she sat down her now empty milkshake glass.

The two adults tried to muffle their laughter as they looked at the little girls pink mustache.

“What?” She asked suspiciously as she leaned back and crossed her arms.

“Nothing, you’re just a very handsome young man.” Tony said with a chuckle, leaning over to wipe the mustache off the small girl’s face with a clean napkin.

Lilith’s only response was to stick out her tongue while her mother laughed.

Cosette regarded her new little family happily, a warmth blossoming in her chest as she watched Tony act like a father.

Tony coughed lightly as he felt a familiar warmth spreading in his chest. His brow furrowed as he clutched at his chest.

“Are you okay?” Cosette asked, worry in her tone as she leans over to touch his arm and look at him, concern in her eyes.

The warmth in Tony's chest was replaced with worry so strong he almost felt nauseous and he suddenly wished he hadn't had the double burger. “Fine.” He choked out with a forced smile.

“Are you sure?” The red headed woman asked softly.

“Yeah.”

* * *

“So this empath theory, tell me more about it.” Tony said with a frown as he rested his elbows on the round table the avengers had gathered around once more.

After discussing the theory for nearly thirty minutes everyone froze when they heard the door open.

“Well, well, well what do we have here?” Came a familiar voice followed by the sound of heels clacking as she slowly entered the room.

“How did you get in here?” Clint asked calmly as he stood up and moved to step to the woman.

“Stay put.” Cosette ordered, her eyes narrowing as she watched the archer freeze. “Good boy.” She enthused lowly, bitterness creeping into her voice.

“This isn't what it looks like.” Steve said pleadingly as he desperately tried to think of how to best diffuse this situation.

“Stop talking.” The small woman hissed as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“How did you get in here?” Thor asked, avoiding the woman's angry gaze.

“Pepper told me you were all having meeting and pointed me in the right direction. However I went to your normal meeting room and none of you were there. Surprisingly, your security kind of sucks.” She explained with a humorless laugh.

“Cosette, let us explain.” Tony pleaded as he moved to stand up.

“What do you not understand about stay put and _stop_ talking.” She growled, her arms falling to her sides as her hands balled into fists.

She took a deep breath to ground herself before putting on a pleasant smile and clasping her hands in front of her. “I'm only going to say this once, I will attend the party next week simply because the press will be there and it is my work you'll be showing off, once that is over none of you will ever see me again.” She paused to take a breath before continuing, “I understand you have all grown close with my daughter but I promise you, if you ever come near my kid again I will sue the hell out of you and I promise my legal team is better than yours. The government has been looking for _any_ excuse to put all of you behind bars but, the public hasn't let them. However, I'm sure a case of stalking would change their minds.”

She waited several minutes for any response but after not receiving anything more than shocked stares she smiled to herself. “Have a lovely night.” Cosette implored before turning on her heel and exiting the room.

The room felt ten degrees colder after she left. Everyone sat in silence until Sam spoke up.

“The worst part is, I think this guilt is all mine.”

* * *

Despite the ice queen exterior she had presented in the conference room Cosette found herself aching inside. She had just lost her new friends and new little family and rejected her soulmate. All she wanted to do was curl up and cry. Which is what she did the moment she got home.

Lilith had gone to a sleepover with a little boy several houses down that she had become friends with a few months before.

So Cosette found herself curled up on her couch, wrapped up in a large blanket with a glass of barefoot moscato that she had picked up from a shady gas station on her way home.

That night she drank an entire bottle of wine and cried herself to sleep, wondering why everything had to go wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback, please.


	11. The Art of Perfection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosette drinks a lot and apparently Whole Foods delivers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The avengers aren't in this chapter. Sorry about that. Does Whole Foods deliver? I doubt it but let's pretend that they do. Also, I changed my name again. Sorry about that.

“Hey.” Cosette started awkwardly into the phone that rested between her ear and her shoulder.

“I thought you were never speaking to me again?” Came the voice from the other end.

Cozy rolled her eyes and sighed. “Well, you're the only grocery store within a 15 mile radius that delivers so here I am.”

“They always come crawling back. Nobody can stay away from Whole Foods.”

“Yeah yeah, I need six lemons, three pounds of green beans and three bushels of asparagus.” She listed as she continued to chop the potatoes in front of her.

“Ooh, I like what you're cooking. I'll be on my way in 5.”

“Thanks, Karl.” She sighed as she wiped a hand on her apron so she could hang up the phone.

“ _Mama_.”

Cosette whirled around at the sound of her daughter calling her.

“Hey, pumpkin! What's up?”

“Are you sad?” The little girl asked, her brow furrowed as she clutched her book about space.

“No, honey, why would you ask that?” She questioned gently as she squatted down and reached out to her daughter.

Lilith slowly stepped into her mother’s arms before replying, “You make food when you're sad.”

“I'll be okay. It's grown up stuff, baby.”

“Are we gonna have to move again?” Lilith murmured as tears welled in her eyes.

“What makes you think we’re moving?” Cosette frowned as she pulled away to look at her child.

“Last time you were sad we had to move.” Responded Lilith as she shyly looked at the ground.

The young mother reached out and put her hand under the daughter’s chin, forcing the child to look up. “We’re okay. We’re not moving.” She said softly before pulling the child back into her arms.

Cosette slowly stood up and resumed cooking with Lilith firmly wrapped around her, the child's legs were secured around her waist and she had her arms around her mother's neck with her book in both hands as she attempted to read. The two had gotten used to being alone and had learned how to live in perfect harmony. They just got each other.

“Door.” Lilith mumbled.

“What?” Cosette asked, she hadn't heard anything.

“Door.” The child insisted.

Cosette walked to the door and opened it to see a started Karl raising his hand to knock.

“Oh, hello! Here are your groceries.”

“On the account right?” Cosette asked as she led Karl into the kitchen where he proceeded to set the bags on the table.

“Yep.”

“Give yourself a nice tip?”

“20% as always.”

“Have a nice night, hun.” Cosette said as the teenage boy exited her apartment.

An hour and a half later the duo sat quietly on the couch and surfed Netflix as they waited for their food to cook enough to eat.

“Let's watch Mulan!”

“No! We watched it seven times.”

“Fine.” Cosette responded grumpily as her suggestion was shot down. “Hunchback?”

“You only watch that when you're sad.” Lilith stated accusingly.

“I swear you're a teenager already.” Cosette mumbled guiltily as she continued to scroll.  
“We’re watching Homeward Bound.” The child stated as she took the remote from her mother and clicked onto a movie before proceeding to curl up to eat her food.

* * *

Cosette knew she was predictable. She knew she had bad habits and she knew that she wore her heart on her sleeve. However, she didn't expect to be so obvious that her child would catch on. Four-year-olds are supposed to be oblivious to everything however, Lilith saw everything. She had always promised herself she would never be that parent that burdened her child with her problems but she found herself struggling. She had no close friends and no soulmate to share everything with.

Lilith was with her little friend again so Cosette desperately tried to think of something to do. She sat on the couch, swirling a glass of wine as she tried to force an idea into her blank head. Just when she was considering Hunchback of Notre Dame again her eyes landed on the half cleaned up red wine stain on her otherwise pure white carpet. Now there was an idea. 

* * *

 

“Well? What do you think?” Cosette asked as she spread her arms out.

“Where do I start?” Monica asked, her eyes wide. Monica was the mother of Jack, Lilith’s friend from a few blocks over

“There was a spill on the carpet I had to redo it.” Cosette explained nervously as she began to fiddle with a loose strand of hair that had fallen from her bun.

“So you painted the walls an' got all new furniture?” The other mother questioned slowly as she stepped into the room.

“I hated the old contemporary style anyways.”

“It's shag.” Lilith stated in disbelief as she plopped herself onto the floor and began to run her fingers through the carpet.

“It's seventies.” Cosette mumbled defensively.

“It's shag.” Lilith repeated.

“It's soft.”

“It's orange.”

Cosette groaned and threw her hands up “Nothing I do is good enough around here.”

Monica laughed and reached forward to grab the younger mother's arm. “Kids, go play. 'E’re goin' t' 'ave a grown up chat.”

“Yes, mom!” Replied Jack who was in a Snow White dress.

Monica gently led the frazzled young woman to the new oval wooden table that now resided in the living room.

“Al’ight, cher, let's talk.”

“Nothing to talk about.” Cosette mumbled as she crumpled into a chair.

“You got shag carpeting in 2015. T’aint nothin’ right about ‘dat.” Laughed the older woman in her soft Cajun accent.

“Reminds me of my childhood.” Cosette mumbled as she buried her face in her arms.

“You were born in 'da eighties." Monica stated before taking a long pause. "Look, I see ‘dat you have nobody t’ talk to. My Julia loves your Lilith and we ain’t separatin’ them any ‘ime soon. So, let's be friends.” 

“Julia?”

“She was born in ‘da wrong body. I knew ‘dat as soon as she turned one.”

“It's nice that you let her be herself.”

“I'm a mother, it's what I, what we, do. Now talk to me, ‘n stop changin’ de’ subject.”

“I rejected my soulmate and found out that all of my friends are only my friends so that they can spy on me because they think that I'm a mutant.” She babbled without bothering to raise her head.

After a moment of silence from the older woman Cosette carefully peeked up at her, looking to see the woman's reaction.

“That be a tough situation.” She started slowly.

Cosette simply laughed as she slowly sat up. “It really is. Lil loves them, but I can't bear to see them.”

“Forgiveness takes a long time.”

Two hours later the two women sat on Cosette’s brand new yellow leather couch laughing their heads off.

“Cozy?”

Cosette turned her head to see her daughter peeking around the hallway.

“Yes, baby?”

“Can Julia spend the night?” She asked apprehensively.

“If her mom is okay with it.”

Monica nodded enthusiastically as she took another sip of wine.

“Well if that's the case we might have a mommy sleepover too.” Cosette said playfully as she waggled her eyebrows at the other woman.

* * *

Cosette had been hoping she could find an excuse to ditch the unveiling of the new floor of Avengers Tower. Yet the event began in three hours and no excuse had presented itself. So she stood in her fifth bedroom turned closet and tried to find something to wear. She coddled her glass of wine as she stared glassy eyed at nothing in particular.

If it wasn't for the press she wouldn't even be going. Alas the press loved the avengers, moreso they loved her. The press seemed simply taken with her, printing articles about her every week, the world buzzing with talk of the successful young mother who had pulled herself from the trap of poverty and created a multi million dollar name in less than three years. The press loved a sob story, and that's just what they considered her to be.

She was shocked out of her reverie by a knock on the door. With a sigh Cosette set down her glass of wine on the small table that sat beside a plush seat before walking to the front door.

“Miss Avalon?” Came a man’s voice as she opened the door.

“Yes?” She murmured in confusion.

“This is for you.” The man said as he haphazardly handed her a garment bag and a vase of red roses before turning on his heel.

Cosette awkwardly shut the door and stumbled back to her closet with the new items. She set the roses down on the table and hooked the garment bag to a hook on her wall before turning her attention back to the flowers to read the note that had come with them.

_“Something for you to wear tonight._

_Ps I picked it out myself.  
-Tony”_

A scoff escaped her plump lips as she crumbled the note and tossed it into a nearby trash can. Whilst mumbling under her breath some nonsense about ‘arrogant pricks’ she unzipped the garment back to unveil what his inside of it.

Cosette couldn't help the laugh that bubbled from her lips as she took in the disastrous Badgley Mischka red off the shoulder pleated cocktail dress. To be fair, the dress would look better on literally anybody else, but with how pink toned Cosette was the dress would make her look like a large strawberry. Yes, it was obvious Tony had picked it out himself, Pepper never would have let that fly.

With a sigh she turned and walked over her vanity to do her makeup and try to brainstorm an outfit. As she finished up by apply a perfect cherry red pout she thought of strawberries again, remembering how on her birthday dinner date with Tony they had fed each other chocolate covered strawberries like lovestruck teenagers who didn't care who saw. Her heart ached.

Suddenly the thought of strawberries inspired her, with new energy she turned and started quickly flipping through racks to find a dress she hadn't worn in years. Cosette pulled out a green Zac Posen sweetheart neckline strapless dress that she hadn't worn since Lilith was a baby. The dress had been one of the things she had splurged on when she had first started making money, she had worn it to her first upscale party.

After slipping into the dress she took a moment to appraise herself in the mirror, the top fit her better now. The last time she had worn it she had still been breastfeeding, her chest spilling over the dress in a way that looked incredibly provocative. She remembered the criticism she had gotten, the press portraying her as a young mother who partied too much and left her child at home. Since then she had perfected her image, vowing to never let there be an unflattering article of her ever again.

Cosette threw on a simple pair of black peep toe Louboutins, something she frequently wore to reaffirm her status, before grabbing the black and silver clutch that she had already prepared before exiting the house. After a moment of thought she unlocked her door and marched straight back to her closet/makeup room. She pulled the half empty bottle of wine from the wine fridge that she kept by her shoes and yanked the cork out before downing it in one smooth motion. She was about to see lots of people she hated, there was nothing wrong with pregaming. As she exited her apartment for real this time she tossed the bottle of wine into the trash shoot in the hall.

As she waited for the elevator to arrive, this elevator catered to only the top three floors and had an attendant, she found her mind wandering to places she would prefer it didn't go.

“Cozy, haven't seen you in a while.” Ron said casually to grab her attention as he patiently held held open the door for Cosette.

“Really? Feels like yesterday.” She said nonchalantly as she stepped into the marble elevator.

Ron had learned not to make comments when Cosette went on a bender, which seemed to happen quite frequently. He had learned not to comment on how she sometimes swayed when she walked and how alcohol sometimes lingered on her breath. He had learned to stand quietly while she cried in the corner of the elevator.

Cosette reached into her bag and pulled out a tin of mints before tossing three into her mouth and hiding the pack back in her bag, she couldn't have her breath smelling like alcohol when she walked through the throng of journalists that she knew would be outside of Avengers Tower.

She took several deep breaths to ground herself and keep her legs from wobbling. As she waited for the elevator to reach the ground floor she smoothed her hair and finished chewing her mints. Yes, Cosette had long since perfected the art of seeming put together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all know the drill.


	12. No Flash Photography Please

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosette is THE wine mom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I'm sorry my updating schedule is so whack. This is a short chapter but I promise the next one will be longer. I don't know if any of you have noticed but I've been trying a different angle of Cozy lately and I'm really liking it! Please leave some feedback on what you think!

* * *

“Oh, thank god you're here!” Cosette exclaimed as she slid into the Mercedes that was escorting her to the Avengers Tower.

“Miss Avalon, you haven't been to work in nine weeks-” Started her assistant.

“Yes, but I'm on vacation, you know that.” Chided the elder as she poured herself and her assistant glasses of champagne.

“Miss Avalon, I really can't drink I'm working right now.”

“Hush, it's just champagne there's like no alcohol in it. Please, Trish, if you do I'll come into work for a week.”

“You're the worst boss.” Trish mumbled as she delicately took a sip.

“I let you drink on the job I think I'm a _great_ boss.” Cosette said with a wink as the younger blonde woman groaned and downed her glass.

“Hugo wants your approval on some bold wallpaper and Chauncey is begging you redecorate his summer home in Aspen.”

“Aspen is so overrated.” Cosette hummed simply in response.

“I have a picture of the wallpaper Hugo wants, personally I think it's a little bold but it's for Martin’s nursery and Martin is a bold person but his partner Chris is much more conservative.”

“Chris as in the openly gay man running for Senator as a republican?”

“Yes-”

“They're adopting?”

“Yes.”

“Good for them.” Cosette murmured as she traced the lip of her glass.

“So what do you think?” Trisha asked as she handed her phone to her boss.

“Oh my god.” Was the woman's only response before dissolving into giggles. After a minute of composing herself she straightened up in her seat and said, “It's hideous. That child will have nightmares for the rest of their life. Tell Hugo that there is a tasteful way to do clowns but that is not it.”

“We’re almost there ma’am.” Spoke up the driver from the front seat.

“Thank you!” Cosette replied airily as she pulled out a mirror and began to fluff her hair.

“How do I look? Honestly.” She asked as she turned to look at Trisha with wide pleading eyes.

“Perfect as always.”

“Thank you.”

* * *

Pepper had truly gone all out for this party, there was a red carpet leading up to the entrance. Cosette assumed it was slightly more than a simple remodel unveiling and that this was a ploy to hopefully get the Avengers back onto the public good graces.

“ _Where's Lilith_?”

“ _Walking the carpet alone tonight_?”

Were just a few of the phrases being shouted at Cosette as she stepped out of the car. Despite every fiber of her being shouting at her to just go home and curl up with a glass of wine she kept walking.

“Miss Avalon won't be taking any questions.” Trisha announced from a few feet behind Cosette.

Cosette stopped to pose for a moment, a perfected fake smile on her face as she waited for this to all be over.

“ _Have you found your soulmate yet_?”

That question hit her like a bus, she could feel the wind being knocked out of her. It took every piece of strength she had to not show any reaction. Instead she pretended she hadn't heard them.

“ _When are we gonna see you with a man on your arm_?” A good natured reporter shouted.

She simply laughed and pushed aside a piece of hair before saying “Who needs a man on their arm when they have a purse?” It was a typical non-answer answer. It explained enough without revealing anything.

“Trisha!” She whisper shouted as she urged the woman to come closer to her.

“Yes, Miss? Do you need anything?” Asked the blonde as she tugged her skirt down and tried to make herself presentable now that she was in front of so many cameras.

“Come take some pictures with me.” Cosette whispered urgently into the girl's ear.

Trisha was confused for a minute until she felt the woman's arms wrap around her, Cosette was shaking. Not visibly but enough that Trisha could feel it, so she did the only thing she could think to do, smile.

* * *

Once they made it inside Cosette immediately took off in the opposite direction of the elevator towards the cafe. Trisha did her best to run after her boss but found it hard to run in heels so she settled for power walking.

Upon reaching the cafe she found a shaking Cosette curled up in one of the booths. “Are you okay?” She asked softly as she hesitantly sat beside her boss.

Trisha had seen Cosette many ways. She had seen her falling apart from stress, angry at delays, crying on her daughter’s birthdays, and having the time of her life at Disneyland. But she had never seen her so broken.

“I met him.” The mother mumbled softly.

“Who?”

“My soulmate. It was awful. Now I have to see him again.”

“He's going to be here?” Trisha asked as she scooted closer in order to hear the woman better.

Cosette simply nodded blankly, an empty look on her face as she stared at fixed point of the table.

“Is he one of them?” The young woman whispered.

Another nod.

“Well,” Trisha started as she stood up and smoothed her skirt, “Then you need to stop crying. Your mascara will smudge and you want to look stunning when you go up there.”

No reply.

“Come on.” She snapped, normally she wouldn't get so aggressive with her boss but anybody who knew Cosette knew that every once and awhile she needed more than a gentle nudge.

Cosette took a deep breath before delicately dabbing away the tears that threatened to fall. After taking a second to compose herself she stood up and attacked her assistant with a hug. “Thank you.” She murmured.

* * *

  
“A glass of water please.” Trisha instructed the waiter that passed them by.

“Wine please. White. Cheapest shit you have.” Cosette mumbled.

“Image.” Trisha murmured from her side.

“Glass of your finest red.” Cosette said whilst batting her eyelashes and reaching out to place her hand on the man's arm.

He blinked slowly but then got a dazed, happy grin on his face as he enthusiastically nodded and took off to grab her wine.

“Cosette, you look lovely!” Pepper exclaimed as she threw her hands up in excitement and approached the other woman.

“Pepper! Look at you, out of a suit and ready to party.” Cosette said with a laugh as she went to wrap her arms around the woman.

_Flash._

Pepper and Cosette both moved to kiss each other's cheeks while singing praises to each other.

_Flash._

“It all just looks so wonderful!” Pepper said as she moved her arm to the small of the other woman's back and gestured grandly to the large room.

“I'm so glad you think so, I did my best.” Replied Cosette smoothly as she played modest, she knew it looked wonderful.

“Wonderful job.” Steve said politely as he walked by and gently patted her back.

_Flash._

“Thank you, Captain Rogers.” Cosette said curtly, but not impolitely as she gave him an empty smile.

“Here you are Miss.” Said the same waiter from before as he offered her a glass of wine.

“Thank you,” She started but trailed off, waiting for him to provide his name.

“Johnathan.”

Cosette smiled and placed a hundred into his jacket pocket, “Keep them coming, please.”

“Of course.”

Four glasses of champagne later and Trisha was giggling in Cosette's ear as the woman reached for another glass of wine. “Wine mom as fuck.” She whispered.

Cosette snorted, wine shooting into her nose as she tried her best not to spit everywhere. “God, you're my favorite assistant have I told you that? You get a raise. Whatever I'm paying you now I'll double it.” She waved nonchalantly as she said this.

“You are the best boss.” Trisha praised as she leaned into Cosette.

_Flash._

She had to get away, even if only for a few minutes she needed to escape these cameras.

“I'll be right back, but until I am that attractive young model over there has been eyeing you up.”

Cosette made her way through the throng of people to the balcony. Unsurprisingly she found herself alone on the balcony.

As she leaned against the railing and looked down onto the road below she found her mind wandering again. Somehow she had managed to avoid seeing Tony. All of the other Avengers had made appearances but Tony was nowhere to be seen. She found herself wishing to see him again, longing to show him that yes she was just fine without him. She wanted to punish him.

“That's not the dress I sent you.”

She should be careful what she wished for.


	13. The Nerf War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony's heart breaks and Cosette just wants it animal style.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm sorry I haven't updated recently! I've been pretty busy. Also, I'm sorry this chapter is so short!

Cosette froze for a minute, she wanted to avoid turning around for as long as possible because once she saw his face she wasn't sure how long she’d be able to keep her cool.

“You sent me a red dress. I'm too pink toned for a red dress.” She said as she resumed idly looking at the lights below, anything to keep her busy.

“Oh.” Was the man's only reply. She could feel his apprehensiveness in the air and his guilt. Part of her wanted to just turn and hold him, take away all his guilt. The rest of her wanted to make him suffer.

The mother stiffened as she felt him slowly move to stand beside her. From the corner of her eye she noticed him lean against the railing, facing back towards the building.

There were a few tense moments of silence until he spoke up once again.

“You can't just ignore me forever.”

Cosette scoffed.

“Seriously, we’re soulmates, Coz, we belong together. The universe put your word on me for a reason.” Tony sounded more like he was trying to negotiate than grovel which made the redhead narrow her eyes.

She found herself wishing for a drink, another glass of wine. The door to the balcony opened and through the doors walked Johnathan, a tray with a single glass of red wine rest on his hand.

“The universe can suck a fat one.” She said haughtily before turning on her heel and heading for the door. In one smooth motion she pulled the glass from the boys tray and pushed through the door.

Normally she would say something more eloquent, but Cosette couldn't find the words to say. If she has tried to say anything else she most likely would have burst into tears.

“Scotch. Neat.” Tony barked at the waiter as he turned to face the street.

* * *

“Please, Tony needs you. We all do. You fit so well with us.” Steve tried to reason with the annoyed redhead that stood in front of him.

“I don't care.” She stated as she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at the man.

“Cosette, please.” Sam said, peeking from behind Steve's shoulder.

“Boys, leave her alone. Lady clearly don't want nothin’ to do with you so just stop.” Came a feminine voice that Cosette had never heard before.

“But, Gen, you don't understand.” Steve whined.

“I don't care. She says she wants nothing to do with y’all then leave her alone. I know you were raised better than that.” Stated the woman who was apparently named Gen.

Cosette had heard the name in passing, the woman apparently being Sam’s soulmate and an old friend of Steve's. Normally she would have introduced herself but she found herself too annoyed and exhausted to care about formalities.

“Sorry.” Steve mumbled sheepishly before being pulled away by the dark haired woman.

Cosette continued to stroll around and make polite conversation for another half hour. Her mindless wandering was stopped as soon as she laid eyes on Trish who was being chatted up by the model from before and looked absolutely bored.

She breezed over to the girls side and whispered into her ear that she was leaving.

“Oh, I'll come with you. I need to call the driver anyways.” The young blonde said with a nonchalant flick of her hair.

‘ _I need to call the driver_.’ Was a code the two had come up with after many flawed escape attempts. It meant “please get me out of here.”

Trish took her boss's arm in hers and steered the woman towards the elevators, walking as fast as she could without looking suspicious.

“What was wrong with him?” Cosette asked, amusement ringing in her tone.

“Kept showing me all his different faces. He was told earlier that he only has one facial expression so he was trying to show me how versatile he could be.” Explained the younger woman as she waved her hands in exasperation.

“Did he blue steel ya?”

“Several times.”

Cosette simply giggled in response.

“I'm hungry.” Trish said as the elevator doors opened.

“I want In n Out. I want animal style fries.” Cosette mumbled as she sauntered into the elevator.

“We’re in New York.”

“Can we go to California?”

* * *

  
Tony sighed as he plopped down onto his new bed, being in this room felt wrong. Cosette not being around to see all her work felt wrong. He sipped the scotch he was currently nursing and stared at nothing in particular, until something caught his eye. There was a large rolled up paper in the corner of the room.

He set his glass down before walking over to the paper. Before unrolling it he stood in front of it taking deep breaths, trying to keep himself grounded. Being rejected by his soulmate was taking a lot out of him, the others all walked on eggshells around him, fearing he would snap at any moment.

As he unrolled the paper rare tears formed in his eyes. The paper was the plan that he and Lilith had come up with for the after party. They had planned to strategically set up nerf guns all around the tower after the party then turn off all the lights and start a nerf war. Lilith had drawn Tony and Cosette holding her up with the word “WINNER!” Above her head. Tony swore he could feel his heart break.

“Mister Stark, Miss Avalon has left the building.” JARVIS informed him.

“Yes, she has.” Tony murmured under his breath.

* * *

“Those fuckers!” Cosette shouted with a mouth full of food. Her hand slammed down on the table in annoyance as she continued to stew over this new information.

“What?” Trish mumbled as she continued to inhale her burger.

“I was an outside hire.” The mother explained before shoving fries into her mouth.

“And?” Prompted her assistant, who's eyes narrowed as she watched her boss slowly chew her food. It wasn't fair for her to just start a conversation and not finish it.

“They only hired me because they wanted to investigate me.”

“I thought Miss Potts hired you?” The blonde asked, confusion in her tone as she wiped some sauce from her face.

“She did, but think about it. Ted referred her to me. They were investigating me. I saw their board of information on me. One of my business cards was on the wall, Teds card was on the wall, a magazine I was in was on the wall. The same magazine I saw in Miss Potts office when I signed my contract. The entire thing was a setup.” She whispered this last part. As she took another bite of her cheap Burger King burger she tried to will away the tears that were starting to form.

Trish frowned, what kind of people would so recklessly toy with someone? She knew her boss's secret but what would strangers do if they knew?


	14. The Poopoo PeePee Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Memories rise to the surface and the press runs an interesting story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone! I've been pretty bad about updating lately I'm so sorry.

Cosette stood in front of the large window that her office boasted. As she glanced down at nothing in particular she swirled her glass of water, a habit she had adopted from frequently holding wine glasses. Her mind was in a far off place, no thoughts of the present whatsoever, she was caught up in the past. Images of her childhood flashed through her mind, old memories being resurfaced.

A man's face circled around her thoughts as her mind slowed to focus on one memory in particular.

_“I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I have to do it. They're making me do it.” The man in front of her cried as he stood in front of an eerily calm child. The knife he was holding shook as he trembled._

_“They'll leave me alone if I do it. I'm so sorry.” He continued to sob, his body shaking as he fought with the voices in his head._

_“I understand.” Whispered the child. Her hands that were tied together reached out to gently touch the man's arm. Suddenly his eyes lit up and confusion appeared on his face._

_“Nobody has ever understood me before.” He whispered, a single tear now rolling down his cheek. The knife fell to the floor._

_Foreign emotions swirled through his body, he could feel the child's masked fear and suddenly the noise in his head stopped and one voice reigned supreme._

_“I'm letting you go.” He said softly, his eyes still wide with confusion as he leaned forward and reached down to pick up the knife so he could cut the ropes that bound the child._

“Miss Avalon?” The new intern said for the third time.

“Oh, what? I'm sorry I was spaced out.” Cosette said with a laugh and a wave of her hand before she greedily took a sip of her water.

“I need you to sign your approval on the flooring delivery for the second floor bathroom? I checked and it's all there but it needs your signature.”

“Thank you. Christy, right?” The mom asked as she took the clipboard from the girl’s hands and signed her name.

“That's correct Miss Avalon.” Replied the young brunette as she took the board back.

“How are you enjoying working here?” Cosette murmured as she moved to start adjusting things on her desk.

“It's wonderful! I'm hoping to be able to get an actual job here after my internship.” The girl said wistfully.

“Keep up the good work and you'll get it.”

“Really?”

“Of course, we appreciate hard workers here at Avalon Enterprises.”

* * *

“Here’s lunch!” Trish announced with a wide smile as she stepped into her bosses large office.

“Thanks, hun.” Cosette murmured, her back was turned to the blonde as she analyzed the wall of fabric samples she had just set up.

“What's that for?” Trish asked curiously as she sat down and started placing food on the table by the window.

“Couch fabric.” Was the simple reply.

“Okay, but for what?”

“My in-laws are remodeling and I offered my help.” Cosette said before turning and rubbing her temples.

“The Matthews?”

“Yeah, they just bought a cabin up in Oregon.” She paused for a moment, silence consuming the room before she continued. “I always dreamed of moving to Oregon. The architecture there is beautiful, lots of old farmhouses. Scott was a lifer though and there weren't any bases up there so we never moved. Plus Lilith and I don't do well in cold.” Another pause. “It was a stupid dream.” She murmured, a bitter smile appearing on her face for a moment before she turned to face her assistant.

“I brought your favorite from Blaze!” The blonde said with forced excitement in her voice as she held up a pizza box.

“Thanks.”

The two ate in silence for a few minutes before Cosette noticed something hanging out of the other woman's purse.

“What's that?” She asked curiously, her tone tinged with suspicion.

“What? Nothing!” Trish replied, a little too fast.

“You're lying. Show me.”

“Fine.”

The cover of the magazine had a giant picture of her and Steve surrounded by smaller pictures of the two. One little picture was Steve's hand on her shoulder as he praised her work, she had a smile on face which could almost be mistaken as flirty to anybody who didn't know her. Another bubble had a picture of her, Lilith, Steve, and Sam at the park. It was from the day she had met them, the day Lilith had gifted them with a leaf. Cosette’s face had a wide grin on it and from the angle it was taken at it she appeared to be beaming at Steve. The cover photo was the two of them standing at the bar, her eyes were narrowed and she had a pout on her face, to anyone who hadn't been there it would appear playful rather than disdainful.

“Mrs. America?” Cosette screeched in shock as she read the headline. “They think that Steve and I are a thing?”

“You could do worse.” Trish hummed through a mouthful of pizza.

“Isn't he a little young for me?” The now

“Don't you mean old?”

“Fuck.” She hissed as she ripped open the magazine to read the extensive trash article on their ‘budding’ romance.

“So, it's not him?” The assistant pressed.

“No.”

“Well, who is more age appropriate,” The blonde's tone was mocking, “For a woman of your age?”

After a brief silence the woman's eyes widened as a sudden realization hit her. “No.” She gasped as her mouth fell open.

“Don't say it.”

“Miss Avalon-”

“Don't say it. Don't think it.”

“Tony fucking Stark is your soulmate?” Trish asked but was drowned out by her boss.

“The poopoopeepee man.” Cosette shouted over Trisha in an effort to avoid hearing the man's name.

“The what?”

“You've never seen that YouTube video?”

* * *

“Momma!” Lilith shouted as she heard the living room door open.

“Hello, baby!” The mother shouted back as she crouched down and held her arms out to catch the child that was flying towards her.

“Julia and I built a castle!”

“Really? Let me see!”

Lilith dragged her mother towards the living room where Monica sat on the couch and Julia sat by her feet. There in the middle of the living room was an absolutely massive castle built from huge legos.

“Well imagine that! We have some little architects in our midst!” The mother exclaimed as she picked up her giggling child and spun her in a circle.

The child giggled shrilly as her mother placed kisses all over her head before setting her down.

“You two did such a good job! I'm so proud of both of you!”

“They been workin’ on it all day.” Monica said with a proud smile as she ruffled her little girl's hair.

“Thank you so much for watching her.” Cosette said as she flopped onto the couch beside the woman.

“It’was my pleasure.”

“Momma,” Lilith started.

“Yes sweet pea?”

“Do you think Thor would like it?” The child asked tentatively.

“I'm sure he'd love it.” Cosette sighed as she picked up the child and sat her on her lap.

“Can I show him?”

“I'm afraid not. But you remember the books I read you right?” The mother asked as she brushed the child's hair from her round face.

“Of course.”

“Well the man called Heimdall sees everything so maybe he’ll show Thor.” She murmured into the child's hair before placing another kiss on the top of her head.

* * *

That night Cosette walked into her daughter’s room to tuck the child in but froze in the doorway. Lilith was on her knees beside her bed praying.

“Please, please, show Thor! Please, Heimdall.” The child murmured as she bowed her head.

Tears welled up in the mother's eyes as it finally hit her that she wasn't the only one hurting. She turned on her heel and walked back to her room where she sat on the bed and pulled out her phone.

She stared at it for a long time before getting the courage to dial the number on the screen.

“Tomorrow we’re having coffee and you're going to explain everything.” Was all she said before promptly hanging up the phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, any guesses as to who is on the other end of the phone? (As always I LOVE and appreciate feedback.)


	15. Tag, You're It.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More of Cosette's past comes to light and everybody begins to realize they just how wrong they were.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Originally this chapter was going to end very differently. But there was a slight change of plans. Also, no offense to any Melanie Martinez fans but that song just gives me the creeps.

“So, why me?” Asked the spy that sat in front of her.

For a moment Cosette considered reaching out and slapping the smug look off the woman's face, however she decided it would not be a good idea to pick a fight with the Black Widow. So she settled for leaning back in her seat and taking a sip of her coffee before answering.

Natasha Romanov was good at hiding her emotions, this was a fact. Another fact was that it was nearly impossible to hide your feelings from somebody who could sense them without even trying. So she couldn't hide the slight annoyance that she oozed as Cosette took her sweet time replying.

The mother had a sly smirk on her face as she looked down at her cup, mindlessly tracing the lid as she waited just a little bit longer before replying. She was reveling in the annoyance she caused Natasha, after all, it wasn't every day you could get a read on Black Widow.

“I want to know why.” She stated calmly. Looking up to make eye contact with the woman who sat before her.

“Because you killed people, and thus were seen as a threat.” Natasha explained with a forced smile as she leaned back into her seat and crossed her arms.

“I didn't kill anyone. Well actually, I can take credit for one death.”

“Please, do confess.”

“The man from my old neighborhood. The one who blew his brains out.” She said the last part slowly, a smug look appearing on her face as she glanced out the window before continuing.

“Why?” Natasha asked, her curiosity was peaked by the idea of the woman before her confessing.

“His teenage daughter hung herself the day before. I found her, she was Lilith’s babysitter so I went over to drop her off, she had given me a key, so I walked in and there she was. I had always known she was sad, I knew that something was wrong. But I did nothing, to protect myself.”

If she didn't finish this story soon Natasha might just murder her before she could hear the end.

Cosette had a far away look in her eye, “Lilith was barely two at the time, so I thought she wouldn't process what she had seen. I was wrong. Do you know how hard it is to explain suicide to a two year old?”

After Cosette took a moment to sip her coffee and collect her thoughts she continued once more, “She always came over to my house at 3pm on the dot. That day she was late, so I went to her house to drop Lilith off. I always thought it was odd that she always insisted it be at my house. Then I found the note.”

Natasha watched the woman in front of her chew on her lip and stare blankly at the table. She had a horrible feeling that she knew where this was going.

“In it she explained that her father molested her. So, she used coming over to my house to babysit Lilith as an escape, she was saving up the money I paid her to get away from him. When the police came they took the note and laughed. Her father was a former marine and retired police officer, and told them his daughter had lied, and they believed him, and then he had the nerve to laugh. Then, when I went to leave he had the nerve to tell me _what a beautiful daughter I had_.” Her jaw clenched and she gripped the table, her knuckles going white as she relived the memory. “The other girl who attempted suicide was her bestfriend who he had molested when she was six. She said she did it because she felt powerless, unable to stop it. I felt so useless, I couldn't do anything to help her, and I know what it's like to feel helpless, weak.”

Natasha was slightly surprised at the woman's last comment, she stared at her, watching the woman's vulnerability morph into hatred as she continued.

“So yeah, the next day he woke up with a sudden urge to blow his brains out. Do I feel bad about it? No.” Her eyes lifted from the table to meet with Natasha's and a chill went through the spy.

She had always heard about motherly love and until now she had never seen it up close, and for the first time in her life she was afraid of someone.

“The other two that attempted? Mind you we lived on base at the time. A guy who came back from deployment with both of his arms stumps, and only one leg. The other was my husband’s bestfriend, Keith had always been depressed but after watching my husband die he went off his meds. All of my neighbors felt bad because they were relieved. They were happy. Happy it wasn't their loved one that came back in a body bag.”  
  
The two sat in silence as Natasha absorbed this information, her mind was whirling. Cosette simply sipped her coffee and stared at nothing in particular, her eyes glazed over. Natasha could practically see the woman compartmentalizing.

“So tell me, Miss Romanov, do I seem like a threat to you?”

“How did he die, your husband? I know he was killed in action but it wasn't specific.”

“His unit was evacuating a building of civilians, they thought they had gotten everyone out but then he heard a cry. Keith couldn't stop him from running into the building. There was a bomb in the basement, the building collapsed. They pulled him out of the rubble, he had taken nearly all his body armor off and nobody could figure out why. He had been curled up in a ball and they pulled him apart to try to perform cpr only to find that he had been holding a child covered in his gear. A little two year old girl, still shaking from fear. They investigated the bomb site and found a Starkbomb that had been rewired with a timer.”

“That's why you didn't like Stark at first.” Natasha murmured.

“Can you blame me? Scott may not have been my soulmate but I loved him with every fiber of my being, he was the father of my child. He gave me the best thing that has ever happened to me.” Her voice started to break towards the end, tears forming in her eyes. “At his funeral Lilith asked why Daddy couldn't come home.” Her tears spilled over as she whispered the last part.

In that moment something miraculous happened, Natasha Romanov who was uncomfortable with emotions and couldn't stand crying people reached out to hold the hand of the sniffling widow.

* * *

Tony Stark stared at his phone his eyes wide with shock. It had been over a month since he had heard from his soulmate, though he still sent her flowers daily some of them going to her home address some going to her office. In the last few weeks he had made one florist very rich and very happy. Yet despite all of this she still hadn’t replied, not a word, not even a threat, and he found himself missing her in a way he could have never imagined. At this point getting a death threat from her would brighten his day.

Which is why his heart stopped when he saw he had a text from her, it's only contents an address, and without even questioning why she had sent it to him he was running to the elevator.

Cosette opened the door to a panting Tony Stark. The man looked like hell; his shirt was stained and had singed holes in it, his eyes had bags under them, his hair was a mess, and his face looked thinner. Her heart ached at the thought that she had put him through that so she did the only thing she could think to do, she reached out to him and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him tight against her. They simply stood holding each other in her doorway for a while, Cosette could feel Tony's shaking breaths.

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.” She murmured into his ear, repeating the words like a prayer.

“No, no, I'm sorry, it was wrong-”

She cut him off by pulling away long enough to smash her lips against his, at first he stood rigid, shocking filling his body before he got it together and kissed her back. Cosette grabbed a fistful of his shirt and yanked him in her apartment, reaching behind him to yank the door shut. Hearing Tony Stark apologize was most likely a once and a lifetime thing and she had just stopped him from apologizing, but she didn't even care. She knew they would have to talk about it, but right now she didn't want to, all she wanted was to feel his skin on hers.

* * *

Tony was shocked by the sudden urgency that Cosette was projecting onto him. His lips moved with hers for a moment before the rational part of his mind forced him to pull away and untangle himself from her. Her pupils were blown with want and she kept chewing on her lip, he had to swallow thickly and look away for a moment to get himself together.

He had promised himself that if she forgave him and gave him another chance he would take it slow to avoid fucking up.

“Are you sure you about this?”

“I want you.” She breathed as she leaned into him again, tilting her head up to look at him.

“What about Lilith?”

“She's at her friends.” Her hands rested on his shoulders before slowly slipping down to rest on his chest.

“We still need to talk?” He murmured weakly.

“We can talk after.” She hummed, her heavy lidded eyes captivated him, she took her lip hostage between her teeth again and Tony could feel his resolve dissipating. Her hands slipped lower until now they were holding onto his belt loops.

“Are you a mutant?” He blurted, yeah that was a great idea.

Cosette blinked for a moment before taking a step back, clasping her hands together, and holding them in front of her mouth. “Does it matter?” She asked in a small voice.

“I just, I need to know that this is real.” He felt cold without her touching him, his bones ached for her.

“Oh.” She stated, her eyes no longer meeting his.

She turned away from him now and Tony felt like he had just stepped outside into a blizzard without a jacket. He had also just realized he could hear music faintly echoing through the apartment, it was an almost eerie feeling that unsettled him to his core. She suddenly seemed so far away, his chest felt empty.

“Say something.” He murmured, stepping towards her.

“Do you really think that I _would do that to you_?” She shouted as she whirled around, her eyes were narrowed into slits but he could easily see the fire that blazed in them. “Do you really and truly think that I'm such an awful person that I would manipulate you like that?”

Tony remained silent, letting her words pierce through him, pain twinged in his gut as he felt guilt encompass him, but it was his own. He could somewhat tell the difference now that he was looking for it, his own emotions snuck up on him, hers exploded in him like fireworks.

“Do you think that I have no control over myself what's so ever? I've been living with this, this curse since-” She cut herself off, she wasn't going to go there.

“See this is good, we're talking.” Tony said awkwardly.

“This isn't something I want to talk about.” She said softly as she wrapped her arms around herself.

Tony felt his heart aching as he watched her hug herself in a desperate attempt from breaking down, he wanted to go to her, to comfort her, but he found himself rooted to the floor. Unable to move, unable to do anything but watch.

Cosette turned and walked over to sit on her oversized yellow couch, she pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around herself one more.

The song changed, this tune more haunting than the last, it was a girl singing softly over gentle music, her voice distorting as the song continued. He watched as Cosette suddenly stiffened.

_‘I'll cut you up and make you dinner.’_

“I can't, I hate this song, I can't.” Her breathing sped up and her eyes grew wide again, she went from simply hugging herself to rocking herself.

_‘He said let me take you for a joyride.’_

Tony knew what a panic attack looked like and so he jumped into action. “Shit, okay, okay, where's your iPod?” No reply.

_‘Grabbed my hair and pushed me down took the words right out my mouth.’_

“Shit.” He mumbled to himself. She was completely zoned out, her breathing panicked as she stared at her bookshelf, specifically a scrapbook that was smaller than all the rest.

_‘Can anybody hear me? I'm hidden underground, can anybody hear me am I talking to myself?’_

Tony looked around attempting to find the iPod so he could turn off the music.

‘I love it when I hear your breathing, I hope to god you're never leaving.’

Unease filled Tony again as he began to understand the words of the song. Cosette was shaking violently, as though she was a possessed person in a horror movie. He began to rush around searching for her speaker system, the song drew to a close but he still wanted to music off. He finally found where he iPod sat hidden on the entertainment system, to be safe he unplugged it and tossed the iPod off to the side.

Cosette was lost, her mind reeling as everything she had tried her best to keep hidden rushed to the surface at once. Flashes of faces, other little girls, danced around her mind, a man's laugh echoed through her thoughts as she felt herself dissolving into madness.

Then a pair of strong arms wrapped around her and she screamed.

“Get off me! Get off! I promise I won't tell anybody! Get off, _please_!” She wailed as she thrashed and struggled against the arms that held her.

“Christ, Cozy, it's me, please relax. You're okay, you're safe.”

Tony's words barely registered in her mind, her body wracked with sobs as she weakly beat on his chest, “Just let me go.” She whispered, repeating the words over and over like a prayer.

“Please, look at me.” Tony said softly as he gently grabbed her chin and tilted her head to look up at him. Those eyes that had been looking at him with lust just a few minutes prior now swollen and filled with tears. Her lip quivered as she tried to contain her sobs, her entire body vibrating as she tried and failed to slow her breathing down.

“What the hell happened to you?” Tony murmured into her hair as he continued to hold her to him. He gently stroked her hair, hoping the repetitive motions would calm her down, and placed a kiss on top of her head as she relaxed and began to sob into him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any guesses as to what's going on?


	16. Who Am I?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosette bares all to Tony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all this is without a doubt the LONGEST chapter I have written for this story. I was initially going to split this up but I figured y'all deserved it since I've been gone for so long. I really am not happy with how I wrote chapter 15 but decided against rewriting it.

Over an hour later Cosette had finally calmed down, she no longer shook with sobs and her breathing was under control. She remained quiet, refusing to speak to her soulmate, knowing that when she did she would have to tell him everything. Surprisingly he was taking it like a champ, simply sitting and stroking her hair while she calmed down. He had stopped asking questions, realizing that he wasn’t going to get anywhere with her if he kept pestering her.  She was fragile, more fragile that he could have ever imagined and he didn’t want to accidentally break her by being his usual annoying self.  So he waited, she was quiet now and she was sitting still, so still he worried she had fallen asleep.

His worried were pushed aside by the sound of her clearing her throat, he slowly untangled himself from her and moved to sit beside her so he could take her in. She hadn’t been sleeping, that much was obvious. He had heard a rumor about her returning to work, giving up on the break she had briefly allowed herself. She was working herself to death, something he could see now. The feeling was all too familiar, having done it so many times himself. It hadn’t been something he came out of by himself, it had taken an army. Every single one of his friends had taken part of his burden onto their shoulders in order to help him out his dark place., something he was eternally grateful for. But, he wondered if she had any friends, he hadn’t really heard of any. Thor and her young assistant were the closest things to friends that he had noticed her having, a thought that saddened Tony.

If she would let him he wanted to be her friend, it didn’t matter to him if nothing came out of their soulmarks, if all they ever were was friends he would be content. He just couldn’t stand to see her so broken. He knew he looked like hell too but that could easily be remedied with some time spent with Cosette, her pain, her hell, that was different; it wouldn’t be easily remedied. The small whiff of it he had gotten in the last few hours proved that, she had a lot more going on below the surface than she had initially let on, more than anyone had noticed. He vowed that if she let him he would always be there for her from here on out.

“I have a lot of explaining to do.” Her voice was small, like that of a scared child. There was a reluctance to it but also an exasperation, one he assumed was from having to keep her secrets for so long.

“You don’t have to.” He wanted to give her an out, a way to avoid this if she needed it.

“I do.” She said simply, toying with a loose thread on her shorts, her eyes unfocused as she stared at her bookshelf.

“I’ll get you a glass of water and some crackers, you’re probably worn out.” He spoke from experience, panic attacks always left him feeling empty and aching. If he ignored the feeling he knew he would begin to dry heave, something he assumed she would do too.

After walking into her kitchen he realized he had absolutely no idea where she stored things. There was a Brita on the counter and at the sight of it his mind recalled a vague memory of her laughing and saying he preferred room temperature water and on the off chance that she wanted her water cold she never took it with ice. Tony decided to put his big brain to use as he tried to find cups, the first cabinet he started with was one that sat eye level to him and was directly above the brita. Upon opening it he was pleased to find an array of glass cups, a small part of him wondered where the plastic cups for Lilith were but he pushed that thought aside, he had more pressing issues. After the glass of water was poured he made his way to the pantry, pleased to see a package of saltines sitting on one of the lower shelves. He sent a silent prayer to whoever, thanking them for making this easy so that he was able to return to his distraught soulmate faster. He also noted a few juice boxes beside the crackers, on a whim he grabbed one, another memory popped to mind, of the night they went on their date. When they were getting to know each other she told him how she had a bad habit of falling asleep with random things and told him about the time she woke up cradling a twenty-four pack of apple juice.

When he returned to the living room he set down the items on the oddly shaped coffee table, it reminded him of a blob that would form in a lava lamp, which made sense considering the seventies decor that surrounded him. When he looked at Cosette again he noticed her eyes hadn’t left that same spot on the bookshelf. The shelf was covered in family albums and other scrapbooks, but one caught his eye. The spine of it read “Who am I?” in sloppy shaking writing he didn’t recognize.

“Grab it.” She said, her voice had evened out now; taking on an eerily calm tone.

Deciding not to question it he got up and retrieved to scrapbook, it was worn and pretty clearly done by somebody wasn’t an excellent scrapbooker. All of the others were thick and sturdy, they looked like they had been made by a professional, the one he held was thin and falling apart in places. The front of it had a picture of a small beaming girl, the edges where it had been cut down to size weren’t even and the same words on the spine were written above the picture. He assumed it was sharpie, he had used them enough in his life to be able to recognize it, the writing was shaking as if somebody had been sobbing while writing this. A shudder went through him as he realized that probably wasn’t entirely unlikely.

Tony watched her expression as she carefully took the book from his hands, her face looked hesitant but determined, something he decided was good, that meant she would be fine with continuing. She rested the book in her lap, one handed slowly trailing over the picture of the smiling child, a small rueful smile appearing on her lips as she swiped her thumb over the picture. Her other hand patted the couch beside her, the soft sound echoing through the apartment, sending another chill through Tony. He didn’t quite understand how an apartment in the middle of New York could be so quiet, it was eerie.

“The picture on the front is of me when I was eight.” She paused, “I made this when I was nineteen.” She flipped open the book to show a picture of her as a child wrapped in the arms of a smiling couple. “That’s my dad and my mom. We didn’t have much when I was little but it didn’t matter. We were a happy little family.” A hesitant smile appeared on her face as she reached for the apple juice, noting Tony had already taken the liberty of opening it and inserting the straw for her. The thought made her smile, he was taking care of her right now, something she desperately needed.

 As a mother she had to take care of herself and her child, nobody really looked out for her. Her best friend didn’t even live in the country and the few friends she had here all walked on eggshells around her. Monica had become a good friend and she often took to mothering the younger woman, however it wasn’t the same. The women related in their struggles as mothers, and their issues with men, but Monica couldn’t relate to most if not all of Cosette’s life experiences aside from those. Monica had chosen to be a single mother, going the in vitro route, Cosette had never had a choice.

She flipped to the next page, it was filled with newspaper clippings and Tony had to blink several times before the content sank in.

 

‘ **_NINE YEAR OLD MISSING THIRTEENTH GIRL TO DISAPPEAR’_ **

 

**_‘FOUR BODIES FOUND IN CASE OF THE CHILDSPLAY KILLER’_ **

 

**_‘CHILDSPLAY KILLER SENDS OUT A SPINE CHILLING LETTER’_ **

 

**_‘POLICE STUMPED IN SEARCH FOR CHILDSPLAY KILLER’_ **

 

**_‘VICTIM’S FAMILY PLEADS FOR SAFE RETURN OF DAUGHTER ALISON JONES’_ **

 

The last clipping had the entire article attached which included a picture below it, the same one that was on the front cover of the book. A sick feeling hit Tony’s stomach as he remembered her begging to be let go, he had thought had meant she didn’t want to be held, that wasn’t it at all.

“This would be why you all had such a hard time finding me. My name hasn’t always been Cosette.” She was biting her lip now, nervousness creeping up on her as she waited for Tony’s response.

“Keep going.” He said softly, his voice cracked as he said it but he wanted to be encouraging.

“Before he took me we had just found out my mother had breast cancer, it advanced so quickly,” her voice broke for a moment as she tried to fight back the tears that had started to form, “Less than a week after we found out she had it they doctors confirmed it was too advanced to do anything about. My dad wanted me to avoid the hospital as much as possible, he didn’t want me to spend my childhood there, so my neighbor started watching me. She was nice, kind of clueless but she baked a lot of cookies.School was out for the summer and I was so excited to be able to play without worrying about school work. I was playing out front when he took me, I didn’t even have a chance to scream. One second I was playing in the grass and the next I was in his trunk.”

Tony couldn’t even imagine having to deal with something as awful as the possibility of losing her mom to cancer that young, and then to be kidnapped on top of it. Nine was a terrible age, he thought, she was old enough to know what was going on and old enough that she would never forget it. It was an impressionable age, had she been a few years younger there was a chance she wouldn’t even remember it, but she did.

“When he took me there were three other girls still there, the youngest was seven, her name was Sarah, and the oldest was ten. Her name was Maggie and she did everything she could to protect us, I guess she felt responsible because she was the oldest.” There was a pause, sadness filling her eyes as more memories hit her. Tony wished he could ask her to stop, tell her to forget it, that it was okay. But he could tell she needed to get this out, and he had a need to know. So he kept his mouth shut and waited for her to continue.

She explained what it was like being in his care and how initially she had thought of the man as pure evil. Which was a perfectly rational train of thought for a kidnapped and abused nine year old to have. Then she explained that she had noticed weird changes in his personality, he did things that reminded her of her aunt, which led her to tell him a small side story about when her moms sister was babysitting her one time and forgot to take her medication; her father had later explained that her aunt was schizophrenic and that without her medication she wasn’t herself.  

Tony found out that she had slowly gotten to know all of the mans different personalities, there were two in total Travis was his bad one, the one that wanted to hurt them. He was incredibly religious and believed that the little girls had the devil in them, and that he could only be removed by being cut out. Jerome was the third one, all she ever learned about him was that he was the one who was supposed to ‘guard’ them. The man who had these personalities in him was named Marcus Brenner, the name sent chills down Tony’s spine, he remembered hearing about it back in the day.  

“Marcus himself was nice, he always fed us and bandaged us. Travis would rip the bandaids off, saying that we needed to ‘bleed the devil out.’ Sarah ended up dying of a blood infection. Travis took that to mean that the devil had been to strong and she was too far gone to be saved. Maggie kept trying to stand up for me, protect me, he took that to mean that the devil was still strong in her and that she needed more cuts. He started carving numbers into her, I didn’t know what they meant until later.” She looked down, fiddling with her hands, goosebumps covering her arms and legs as she thought of how to continue.  


“What did they mean?” Tony figured this question would give her some reprieve from the story she was telling, forcing her to focus on the more recent memory of finding out what the numbers meant than of the memory of the numbers being carved into her friend.

"Ephesians 6:11 _Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil._ 2 Thessalonians 3:3 _But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one._ John 8:44 _You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies._ Matthew 3:19 _When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road._ ” Her answer was prompt and mechanical as she recited the words.

“How do you remember those?” Tony’s head was spinning, as soon as each new phrase hit his ears he forgot it. Yet somehow for all these years she remembered them.

“I see them every time I close my eyes.” She whispered. “I have one too.” Tony hadn’t thought her voice could get any smaller but as she admitted she had marks from that man she seemed like a scared child again. He hesitantly moved to wrap his arm around her, hoping to comfort her in any way possible.

“2 Corinthians 11:14 _No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light._ ” She pulled her shorts down the tiniest bit to show the angry red scars on the outer side of her left hip. ‘ **_2C11:14_ ** ’ Tony swallowed thickly as he reached out to trace the angry red marks, he knew how scars hurt, he could tell by the angry puffiness of this one that it would pull every time she lifted her arms above her head or attempted to stretch. It was a constant reminder on her skin.

“Half way through our time there, or at least what I assumed was halfway, we didn’t exactly have a calendar, another girl was brought in. Her name was Josie and she was only six. Maggie and I worked together to protect her, but Maggie still got the brunt of the beatings.” Cosette bit her lip and tasted blood, she felt awful that the other girl had taken on everything thrown their way. She wished she had stopped her friend more often, she wished she had done something, anything.

“Maggie, Josie and I were the only survivors. My mutation,” She wrinkled her nose as she said this, “manifested while he held us. Specifically when Travis decided it was my turn. He held me underwater until I passed out, to try to expel the devil, then I woke up he was carving that into me. My hands were tied, quite literally and I couldn’t do anything but cry. Then he demanded Marcus end me, saying that he needed to ‘Man up.’ I just remember him holding the knife, sobbing and apologizing, saying that he didn’t want to but he had no choice. I did the only thing I could think to do, I reached out to him and told him I understood. That’s what people always did in movies, so I thought it would work. My hand started tingling, and I got a weird knot in my stomach as I looked him in the eye and told him that it was okay. He started crying, saying nobody had ever understood him before.” She stopped to chew her lips, a far away look in her eyes as she looked back down at the book, her eyes scanning the newspaper clippings.  


“I don’t remember getting out, the next thing I remember is Maggie dragging Josie and I down the street screaming for help. Someone called the cops and said that some kids were running around unattended and screaming. I don’t remember the ride to the station but I remember seeing my dad, my mom wasn’t there. She was the first person I asked for. She had died while I was gone.” Cosette sounded absolutely crushed as she whispered this last part, a tear finally escaping; sliding down her face to fall onto the page of clippings.

“I don’t blame him. It wasn’t his fault. The police said he was on a lot of drugs and it caused his brain to fracture into all of those personalities which ended up making his schizophrenia worse. Schizophrenic people usually aren't dangerous, they just need help. The drugs were what really messed with him.” She had a rueful smile on her face, “I wish I could hate him.”

Tony stared at her, amazed that she had survived that. Earlier she had called her mutation a curse, but it had saved her life and who knows how many other girls lives. It was a gift.

“My dad hadn’t wanted to have my mom’s funeral without me, I was gone four months, and he had waited that entire time, so that I could say goodbye. At her funeral my aunt was there, I ran away from her screaming.” Tony could tell she felt guilty about that, it was written clear as day on her face. He wanted to tell her it wasn’t her fault he reacted like that, but she interrupted him by curling into him and sobbing.

“You don’t have to continue, it’s okay sweetheart.” He cooed, Tony couldn’t remember a time he had been this gentle with anyone. His usual solution to people being upset was to make them something to make it better, or make something to protect them from further pain. He hadn’t ever just held someone.

“I do.” She sniffled, and sat curled into his side trying to catch her breath before continuing. She flipped the page in the book to show pictures of her as a teenager, she seemed happy, her smile was genuine but reserved. There was a picture of her and a boy dressed up for prom on one of the pages.

“My dad got remarried when I was twelve, they’re still married, she’s nice, she really is like a mother to me. I’ve always just called her mom, I didn’t want her to feel alienated. She was the one who helped me understand my mark when I was fourteen, told me that it just meant my soulmate had a sense of humor.” She snorted as she lovingly stroked the words written on her thigh.

“When I was sixteen I met Scott, my dad and I had moved away from our home in Iowa to Arizona. We moved there because that’s where Julia, my stepmom, was from and he didn’t want me to grow up somewhere with such bad memories, he didn’t want me to have to go to school and have everyone stare and whisper. It still happened in Arizona, it wasn’t immediate but a few months into living there the whispers started. Some girl kept making fun of me, every time she’d walk by me she’d offer me some ‘free candy’ it didn’t actually matter to her that, that wasn’t what had happened. Then one day Scott jumped in, told her to go to hell.” She smiled softly at the memory.

She flipped the page again, she was older in the pictures now, smiling and laughing with who he assumed was Scott. There was an ultrasound taped to one of the corners.

“I guess it just progressed from there, when he was eighteen he enlisted. Marines. I knew he was the one when he promised me he’d marry me and change my name, take away the curse. So that I could live my life without being that girl.” Cosette laughed lowly, it was a sad laugh, bitter even. “We got married when I turned eighteen, he was twenty. I changed my name, my middle name had been Cosette, after my mothers older sister who committed suicide when they were young. So I became Cosette Matthews.” Tony had been wondering how she had gotten the name Cosette ever since he found out that she had been born named Alison.

“When I was nineteen he got deployed, the first month into his deployment I found out I was pregnant.” Her hand absently stroked her stomach as she admitted this.

“But, Lilith is only four.” He hadn’t meant to interrupt but he couldn’t help it.

“Be quiet and you’ll find out why that doesn’t add up.” She snapped, pulling away from him to glare at him. There wasn't any actual malice in her glare but it was hard enough to make Tony squirm.

Tony smiled sheepishly before apologizing and urging her to go on.

“I couldn’t figure out how to tell him, over email hardly seemed appropriate and our phone calls were always so short and he was always so stressed. I didn’t want to make it worse. I ended up losing it, the doctor said it was probably due to stress.”

She traced the ultrasound, a look of acceptance on her face as she let her finger rest on the small bean shaped blob in the middle of it. “I didn’t tell him until he came back, he was upset, understandably so but understood why I didn’t tell him. Then when we got older we started trying, it took three years. I got pregnant when I was twenty seven. I had Lilith a few months after my twenty eighth birthday, and Scott got deployed again when I was twenty nine. I used to send him videos of her chattering. The way she would say ‘dada’ over and over again. Then he stopped replying, and I thought he just got busy. But then by the day he was supposed to be home I still hadn’t heard from him. I was so excited when I heard a knock on the door, I thought he was finally home.” She shook her head as if scolding herself for being so hopeful.

“It was his friend Keith and a grief counselor.” She continued to explain the story that she had explained to Natasha earlier that day. Not sparing any details, although after admitting that the bomb had been a rewired Starkbomb she wished she had kept that detail to herself.

“Christ Coz I’m so s-” Tony had started to say before being shushed by her hand over his mouth.

“Did you make it for that purpose?” She asked, defiance in her eyes as she stared down the older man.

“Of course not but-”

“No buts. It wasn’t you fault. You never wanted your weapons to be used for evil, it wasn’t your fault.” She whispered the last part as she moved to hug him.

That’s when Tony knew, he would do anything to protect her and Lilith, he had never been a kid man but he was already planning on renovating a room on the top floor to Lilith. He needed them close, so he would know they were safe, but somehow everyone close to him got hurt, he was a hurricane, tearing down everything in sight. Destroying things people cared about, ruining lives, he knew this. But he wanted to be better, he had to be better, for his family of misfit heroes and his new found family, his daughter and soulmate. He needed to protect them.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for tolerating me!

**Author's Note:**

> I'll attempt to update this as often as I can. Feedback is much appreciated any comments are appreciated.
> 
>  
> 
> Love me.
> 
> Please


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